Jenseits von Gut und Bose
by Lavenian
Summary: The RowdyRuff Boys find themselves thrust into an ancient battle that's spanned eons in the making, and they are but a few of many players involved in a plot to decide the fate of all of existence.
1. The Job

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: I don't own the PPG or the RRB, that's all.

Brick is- a grown man with a love interest…

Boomer is- a once timid child who admitted his feelings to the girl he loves.

Butch is- Unbeatable; no one can stand up to his mightatude.

Episode 1: The Job

It's been well over several years, and yet, even against the currents of time, the City of Townsville is still the same as it always had been: A city, that if it had any particular interest so to speak, it would be a new "trophy" that is on its way to the Townsville museum.

All the rich folk, and those who could afford entrance fees, were welcome to marvel at the museum's latest acquisition: The Venus de Milo.

And yet, there are those in their hearts with the desire to seek the greatest challenge of life itself; more greater than the taste of man's first humiliation, more minute even than when a hero gives his life to that which he has sworn to protect…

"Brick? Do you copy, dude? There are some punk sentries posted around the perimeter of the museum." Boomer contacted Brick on their new transceiver radios attached to their ears "Relax, Boomer, we're already used to this kind of stuff, and besides… no one will ever know… until the unveiling that is." Brick replied in a cocky voice.

The greatest challenge of life itself: Thievery

Brick was crouched on top of one of the flagpoles of a nearby building, ninja style. "Time to get to work." He thought, and jumped off the pole over towards the museum.

Back inside…

The Powerpuff Girls and Professor Utonium were invited over for the unveiling as well.

"I assure you professor, it will be a most marvelous sight to behold once the unveiling begins." Said Ms. Dolores Grant, the museum's new curator, "I'm certain it will be Miss Grant." The Professor replied.

Bubbles was at the Professor's side, not paying much attention, she was thinking about the day Boomer confessed his love for her…

Flashback…

Bubbles was running an errand for the Professor, to prove once and for all that she was a "big girl" to Blossom and Buttercup. Along the way, she passed by Townsville park where the lair of Mojo Jojo still stood, it's former occupant having mysteriously disappeared years before, it was there that she saw a baby sparrow on the ground which obviously fell from it's nest. "Poor thing." She thought and climbed up the tree.

She put the sparrow back in its place, but the branch she sat on was giving way, and she fell. But luckily, someone caught her; she was relieved for a moment, but was then shocked with fear as she saw her rescuer: Boomer

"Wait! I… I don't wanna fight you!" Boomer tried to explain, but Bubbles put up a fighting stance, waiting for Boomer to make a move. "Please, I… I… I need to tell you something." Bubbles could sense the timidity in his voice, and lowered her guard for a moment. Boomer continued, "Well, I… gulp, wanted to… to… to ask if…" Boomer stopped, walked over to the tree, carved something, and left, as far as he could carry himself, leaving Bubbles dumbfounded.

Bubbles then looked at the trunk where Boomer carved something, it was a message, and it read:

_Bubbles,_

_I have been in deep trouble lately, well, to start off, me and my brothers have gone our separate ways to "find ourselves" and I haven't been having much luck, you're the only person I can turn to now, I know I've done a lot of terrible things to you, and I'm sorry, I was not in control then, HIM was somehow influencing me and my brother's personalities, and we left HIM and ourselves to find our purpose, but I don't know what to do._

_Please! I'm on my knees! And… well, if you think I'm scum, its okay, I think I may as well deserve it._

_Oh yeah, before I forget, I kinda liked that kiss you gave me when we were younger, and I also think you're kinda pretty, so, Bubbles, Iluvusomuch!_

Even though the last five words were smudged together and misspelled, Bubbles knew what he meant, and she was… touched by his emotional display. Even if he did do terrible things to her, she knew it wasn't his fault, and decided to help him.

Boomer was out by a lake in the woods, he really felt like scum for writing that, and he feared Bubbles would never want to see him again, but he was prepared for it: Bubbles would abandon him, and he'd slip into obscurity like the waste of skin he was.

At that precise moment, Bubbles came to see Boomer, "sigh this is it: Doomsday" he thought, and was to face the consequences of his transgressions.

(AN: Sorry, but I like using big words)

Bubbles came closer to Boomer, he didn't move, he was going to face this like a man. Bubbles then came closer, and whispered something in his ear, "I'll help you." She said in a sweet voice. Boomer did not expect this, not once. "Wha- you want to help me?" he asked, "Of course, after all, you asked me in such a nice way, its only fair this is what I'm supposed to do, right?" said Bubbles. Boomer felt lower than scum with that, he thought he was demanding Bubbles rather than asking a simple request.

"I'll help you out, don't worry, and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Bubbles said, almost as if she read his mind, and then she hugged him! But he didn't mind, and Boomer felt somewhat better after that, "And Boomer…" Bubbles said, "Yeah?" said Boomer, "I… I… I always…" Bubbles began, then continued "… wanted to see you again." She finished, "You… you don't hate me?" Boomer asked, "Never, I just knew deep down, you're not a bad person." She said, Boomer felt his heart melt away, "Don't worry, I won't tell the other girls, you're secret's safe with me, and Boomer…" she said, "What?" Boomer asked, "I love you too." She finished, Boomer, on that instant, died inside, "Even if you did put that giant slug in my dress." Bubbles added, Boomer felt like shit again, but at least he was a happy pile of shit.

End Flashback…

Brick landed on the roof of the museum and called the other guys on the radio transceiver, "Boomer, you in position for the heist?" he asked, "All set." Said Boomer, "Is Butch in position too?" Boomer asked, "He ought to be, anyway, I'm going in." Brick ripped open the ventilation shaft and went inside.

Back at the party…

Buttercup was stuffing herself at the buffet table, bored to death, and with nothing else better to do, "I didn't even wanna come to this stupid party." She thought, "I wish Butch was here." She thought, reminiscing that time…

Flashback…

Butch and Buttercup had been duking it out for three straight days non-stop, and on the fourth day, they were too famished to hold on.

"Man, you're tough." Buttercup remarked, breathing heavily "So are you." Butch commented, the two had landed on some island outside Townsville, where they rested, "Don't think this is over." Butch said, "Don't bet on it." Said Buttercup.

They both stood up and were ready to fight for the next couple of seconds, and yet as they were about to begin, they were suddenly surrounded by monsters, "Great, what a time to end up on Monster Isle." Buttercup said.

They did pretty fine, and all of the monsters they fought didn't require much effort, however, one of the monsters bit Buttercup and she couldn't move. Apparently, it used a type of venom to paralyze Buttercup, "I am in deep shit." She thought as the other monsters crept closer, but just as she was about to meet her demise, Butch jumped in and fended them off and valiantly protected Buttercup. Butch was really exhausted from the fighting, but with all the strength he had left, he unleashed a loud, guttural roar at the monsters, a green aura seems to flair around him as he did so, and all the monsters fled in terror.

Buttercup saw him coming towards her, "Aren't you gonna finish me off?" Buttercup asked, expecting him to kill her right there. Instead, he picked her up, bridal style, and flew her safely back to her house.

Butch then began to fly away, when Buttercup stopped him, "What was that for? Why didn't you finish me off?" Buttercup asked, "You wouldn't have wanted me too anyway, right?" he asked, and Buttercup was dumbfounded, "Just forget this ever happened, I… I don't know what I did, alright? Just… let's forget about this." Butch said and flew away, although both of them would only realize it much later, they were actually quite fond of each other.

End Flashback…

Brick was now inside an empty hallway, "I'm in luck, this area leads all the way to the statue's display case." Suddenly, he came upon a locked inner gate, "This looks like a job for…" but before he could finish, an object fell from the ceiling window, "CANNONBALL!" it yelled, it was Butch, and his "well-executed" entrance, "Greetings, fellow citizen! Do not fear, "The Butch" has no desire to harm innocent bystanders." Butch said in his (fake) heroic tone and overdone sense of exaggeration.

"Good to see you Butch, think you can move this inner gate?" Brick asked him, "There is no obstacle in my path that cannot be dealt with." Butch said, again in his (fake) heroic tone and overdone sense of exaggeration. And in two shakes of a lamb's tail, he forced the gate open, "Thanks bro, I needed the assist." Brick thanked him, "Whenever you are in need of assistance, "The Butch" will be ready to deliver any time." He said, and flew out of the hole he made.

Brick continued through the empty hallway, and eventually came upon a dark room. Suddenly, he was spotted by some thugs, "Who the-? He's seen us! Get him!" they shouted towards Brick, "Hmm… these guys aren't security." Brick thought, capable of examining their clothing even in the dark. "So, forgers eh? Where's the honor in making your own art instead of stealing it?" he questioned in his head as he made quick work of the thugs. He then reached for the light and turned it on, the place was a mess of paints and easels, and clearly someone was forging old masterpieces for whoever's benefit "Hmm… I think we can use this to our advantage." Brick thought, and contacted Boomer, "Boomer, change of plans, I think I have an idea on what we can do to distract the guests." Brick said, unaware of the two guards silently approaching him…

At the party, the PPG, Professor Utonium, and Ms. Grant were marveling at the Venus de Milo, when they are suddenly interrupted by three security guards, "Excuse us for butting in, Ms. Blant." Said one of them "It's alright, and it's Grant, now what appears to be the problem?" Ms. Grant asked, "Well, we apprehended a group of thieves up in the attic, and they look to fit the description of the Rowdyruff Boys." They answered, this made Blossom perk her ears, if the RRB are here, then that must mean Brick is here too. After hearing that, Blossom immediately dashed towards the attic, Ms. Grant seemed quite distressed by this, "There's no need to be all jumpy about it, I'll just call the police and get them to apprehend these interlopers." Said Ms. Grant, a little worry in her voice, "Sorry Ms. Grant, but I've been meaning to catch those bastards for months." Blossom said excitedly, and everyone else followed suit, leaving the Venus de Milo completely unprotected…

As Blossom continues to ascend towards the attic, Ms. Grant grows more and more nervous "Girls, please! The police will handle it! Now let's just head on back to the party!" Dolores said, growing more agitated, "I'm sorry Ms. Grant, but I can't let this opportunity pass me by, not by a nano-second!" Blossom said excitedly as she proceeded further towards the attic. "Well then… I'll just… head on back to the party then… it must be in full swing by now… heh heh." She stuttered and left.

When they finally reached the attic door Blossom kicked it open and shouted "FREEZE!" at the top of her lungs, but she didn't expect to see what her eyes saw, "Easels? Paints? Plaster?" when the Professor and the other girls arrived, the Professor could tell what had gone down here, "gasp Ms. Grant is a forger?" he said in shock.

After examining the room, they only found a bunch of thugs tied in ropes and unconscious, "But I thought those guards said the Rowdyruff Boys were supposed to be here." Bubbles said, hiding her relief that they weren't there the whole time, she couldn't stand Boomer being caught and left to waste away in a jail cell corner, and so did Buttercup, though hers was for Butch. "They were Bubbles…" Blossom spoke "…and they still are!" with this sudden realization, she made a mad dash towards the Venus de Milo's exhibition area, "Blossom, where are you going?" Buttercup shouted, "Not now Buttercup! I think I know what's going on now!" she shouted back, as she continued running as fast as she could.

"FREEZE!" Blossom shouted as she got back to the exhibition, but instead, she found a tied-up Ms. Grant and a…

"NO! Those stinkin', dirt-faced, lousy, no good…"

…calling card with the symbol of the Rowdyruff Boys etched on it. "…THIEVES!"

Outside…

"Dude, you sure that thing isn't heavy?" Boomer asked, as Butch put the statue in the Team Van, "Ha! This effeminate hunk o' rock ain't nothin' for the Butch-inator!" Butch responded, "Bad news guys, the evening traffic doesn't start until 4 minutes, without it, our cover will be blown." Brick told the others "What! Dude, Blossom will, like, totally catch us if we don't hide in the traffic!" Boomer said, "Relax guys, I'll handle it. It's not like I wasn't able to evade her before." Brick said, and dashed off, "I sure hope bro knows what he's doin'." Boomer said, "Don't worry, he has, like the three of us always will, FINESSE! Take that from "The Butch!" Butch said again.

Doing this reminded Brick of the reason why Blossom hated him so much, apparently at the time, Brick and his brothers were disbanded for a while, and Blossom used this opportunity to catch them all before they regrouped, she was tracking down a jewel thief whom she suspected was Brick, but was actually some other guy, Brick was caught by Blossom in a building, and was temporarily tied up in a closet, but was accidentally released by a sympathetic janitor. Blossom now had to track the real crook and Brick, but was unable capture either of them.

And speaking of Blossom…

"C'mon, Bloss, you know me and my bros only steal from criminals, we don't steal from the hard-working citizens you care for so much." Brick said, calm as a cool breeze.

"But where do you think those criminals get their loot from!" Blossom said, infuriated like a forest fire.

"So in a sense, we're kind of on the same side." Brick said, ignoring Blossom.

"They steal it! I don't care where you are in the food chain! You're still breaking the law!" Blossom shouted, ignoring Brick.

"She's obsessed with me." Brick thought.

"He's obsessed with me." Blossom thought

"Do you remember that night three months ago?" Brick said, breathing in the "romantic" air around him. "HOW CAN I EVER FORGET?" Blossom shouted, breathing in the fumes of her own fury.

"Yeah, I love leaving an impression." Brick said.

Flashback…

Blossom was bawling her eyes out, she couldn't believe she "failed" a crime, and she's supposed to be enforcing the law. Brick, being a more sensitive person that he was, decided to drop a special package, and I meant "dropped" literally.

Blossom was shocked to see a tied up man. With a paper bag on his head, she unmasked the guy, revealing the real jewel thief. Along with Brick's calling card, and all the stolen jewelry. Blossom became ecstatic soon after.

End Flashback…

"Times have changed Brick; I'm not the same little girl you used to abuse so long ago." Blossom's voice was now softer, but with a firm tone to it.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. But at least give me a chance." Brick begged her.

"Oh fine, a ten-second head-start, then." Blossom suggested.

"Good enough for me." Brick said.

10…

9…

8…

Brick didn't move

7…

6…

5…

Brick still didn't move

4…

Blossom was confused, but didn't lower her guard

3…

Brick crept closer to her

2…

Time stopped at that particular moment, as Brick…

ONE…

…kissed Blossom on the lips, and quickly left. Though Brick couldn't see it, Blossom was spell-bound, she never hated Brick, she just felt insecure, but both knew they would meet each other again soon…

Meanwhile…

"Those boys will regret having betrayed me, but soon, once my new playmate is ready, then they will know and…" But HIM was cut-off when seven uninvited guests blasted the walls of his lair.

"Who are…?"

SMASH!

BAM!

SLASH!

KABOOM!

ZAP!

BIFF!

CRACK!

And HIM was then exiled back into the Underworld where he will do no more harm in Townsville, and the seven who banished him walked over to his concoction.

"Thought the stool pigeon would'a had more substance than that." Said one of them.

"Don't complain, it was easier this way!" said another.

"The beauty of his departure was most satisfying, though." Said another.

"We all enjoyed it y'all" said a female voice among the group.

"Shouldn't we focus on the matter at hand?" said a seemingly empty voice.

"Yes, we must finish what we came for." Said a more commanding tone.

"Indeed, the moment of triumph, our great moment of victory, is at hand." Said a demonic voice.

And then they all left…

Suddenly, the concoction was bubbling, and soon a dark, child-like figure rose from it.

"It has begun." He said.

A/N: What do you think? it's a revised version of an old story I put up about a year ago, the old one sucked, so I revised it into this. By the way, "Jenseits von Gut und Bose" means "Beyond Good and Evil" in German.


	2. Calm Before the Storm

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Exactly what it is

Episode 2: Calm Before the Storm

SithKnight-Galen: Thanks for reviewing the first chap, and as for how the relationship develops, it's already intimate enough as it is.

Ofdarknesschaos: Well, here it is then

It was Saturday; the Powerpuff Girls were doing their regular patrols around the city.

While the Rowdyruff Boys, ever the chivalrous band of thieves they were, were stalking some snatchers who had made off with an old lady's purse. They apprehended him. Took the stuff in his coat, and left with what they would need: a gold pocket watch, 50 dollars and a silver necklace.

Brick became the fun-loving thief that he was when he learned about the art of thievery, it stated, and I quote: "True thieves steal only from criminals, for there is no fun, no challenge and no real sense of reward stealing from ordinary folk. Steal from a master criminal, and you know you're a master thief."

On a whim, he sucked the finances of an illegal drug market dry, and, much to the chagrin of the local gangs, found it to his liking. His brothers caught on the fad too, and the former notorious gang of thugs known as the Rowdyruff Boys was now Townsville's famous band of thieves.

Thanks to them, the local crime rates have been halved, with Townsville's gangs as the primary criminal activity on one half, and the Rowdyruffs occupying the other half.

Later…

The Powerpuff Girls returned home, it was another uneventful patrol, Townsville was nice, but now that most of the old villains were gone, it was now much too quiet, especially for Buttercup's taste, nothing much happened anymore.

Until the hotline rang…

"Hello, Oh, hi Ms. Bellum. What! There was a… do you have any idea who did it? Yes Ms. Bellum, we'll be right there!" Blossom then hung up the phone, "What was it, Blossom?" Bubbles asked, "There's… there's been a massacre in the old abandoned district of Townsville." Blossom replied, hearing this ran a chill down the PPG's spines.

Nonetheless, they went and investigated.

The sight that greeted them was simply horrible, everywhere was the decapitated heads, ripped out spines, puddles of blood and twisted limbs of the victims: hoboes, beggars and even young orphans. It was more than a massacre; it was genocide.

"Who would do this?" Bubbles asked, horrified by the terrible scene. "I don't know, but we're gonna find out." Blossom said.

After a couple of moments of examining the scene, even with help from the police as they arrived, nothing, absolutely nothing to show who did this.

The Girls decided to investigate again tomorrow, hoping they will have much better luck than this time.

Later…

The Rowdyruff Boys bought a newspaper with their "stolen" cash and decided to check the goings on in Townsville; however, the massacre from this morning was the only thing on the headlines. "This looks serious, dude." Boomer remarked at the paper's grisly scene. "Yeah" Brick replied.

Something about the blood-stained scene stirred something in Brick, like it was begging him to find out, and so he and his brothers decided to investigate it when the night hours came.

Night falls…

Brick and his brothers went to the area of the massacre; it was even more terrible than in the newspaper. Despite having to work in a messy pile of corpses and blood, they needed to find out who did this. Brick then noticed something, amidst the blood stained walls and earth: an arrow, painted in blood, following a trail of more blood arrows "This was made only recently." Brick said, examining the arrow, which indeed looked recent, and besides, Blossom always had an eye for detail, and if this arrow was made the night of the massacre, Blossom would have undoubtedly seen it the next day.

"I don't like this dude." Boomer said, "Me neither, this is just way too creepy." Butch included, "I know, but this is serious guys, so are you coming or not?" He asked, and his brothers simply agreed, even when they knew they were afraid.

So they followed the trail of blood for a couple of minutes, eventually leading to an old abandoned warehouse with an X painted in blood, "This must be it." Brick said, and he and his brothers went inside.

"Keep your wits sharp, there's no tellin' what'll happen." Brick cautioned his brothers. Suddenly Boomer looked up, and was stunned, "What's up, little buddy?" Butch asked, Boomer only pointed up at what he saw, and the other guys were stunned as well: there, up on the ceiling of the building, were the rest of the victims, skinned like animals, blood still dripping from their lifeless bodies. "I think I'm about to puke." Brick said. "I suggest you don't." said another voice from inside the warehouse, "Who's there!" Brick exclaimed, suddenly, a lone, dark figure, walked towards them from the shadows, he had short straight, pitch black hair, extremely pale skin, as white as the moon, and was draped in black, his demeanor and appearance was very familiar to Brick, he looked like a Rowdyruff Boy, but he was an unfamiliar sight, "You… you're a Rowdyruff, aren't you?" he asked the mysterious Ruff, "And how does that matter to you?" the other Rowdyruff said, "Do you work for HIM, then?" Brick asked him again, "I work for no one." He replied; this dumbfounded Brick, if he didn't work for HIM, then where did he come from?

"You're not gonna stand there all day, are you?" the Black Ruff asked, "Uh, no… why?" Brick asked him. "Good." And then the Black Ruff made a very fast dash towards Boomer, punched him squarely in the gut, knocking him into a wall and stunning him. "Hey, no one does that to "The Butch's" brothers!" And dashed to attack the Black Ruff; However, the latter kicked Butch in the stomach, and with his foot and Butch still on it, threw across to the other side, knocking him out too.

"Whoa!" Brick exclaimed the Black Ruff, "Think you have what it takes to beat me?" the Black Ruff asked, "Why you-!" Brick dashed forward and threw a punch, but the Black Ruff blocked it, and punched his stomach, this was followed by his elbow making contact with Brick's face, and a kick ramming him into the wall, "Grr… he's tough." Brick thought, and tried to hit him again, this time with a kick to his waist, but this too was blocked, and the Black Ruff, did a horizontal screw flip, and kicked Brick in the face, he then grabbed Brick's long hair, and put his foot on his back, stepped real hard, and drove Brick's face in the dirt.

"Had enough?" the Black Ruff asked sarcastically, Brick was now staggering, this guy was way more powerful than anything they had ever seen, and his brothers were still knocked out, "That must have been something, huh?" Brick thought seeing as how his brothers were still unconscious. Brick got up, he examined the Black Ruff carefully, "This guy is unbelievable." He thought, he needed to pull a fast one if he was gonna survive this.

Suddenly, without warning, the Black Ruff charged at him, Brick couldn't react quickly enough, but managed to throw a punch, hoping it would hit him. It didn't, and instead the Black Ruff punched his waist, then he raised Brick's left arm over him, and slid to his back, where he brought Brick's arm back down, and using his right elbow, struck hard on Brick's arm joint, badly dislocating it. "Aaargghh!" Brick howled in pain, but his opponent wasn't finished with him yet. The Black Ruff then began to charge energy in his hands, it was a pretty small orb of energy, but it resonated with energy so pure and unadulterated.

Brick thought he was finished, but before the Black Ruff used his little ball of energy, he spoke a few "departing" words to Brick, "By the way, if you're curious, my name… is Biarce."

(A/N: Biarce is pronounced Bee-yar-say)

And then, he fired his energy blast, which blew up the entire warehouse.

Morning comes…

Brick could see nothing but darkness, until he opened his eyes and saw his two brothers staring down at him, "What happened?" Brick asked them, "You were being beaten up, and we had to drag you out of the explosion as it occurred, that's what happened if you're asking." Boomer said, "Just be glad "The Butch" saved our hides from a near fatal disaster, it'll take more than an explosion to beat Team Excellence: Brick and his brotherly band of thieves!" Butch said in his hero voice.

Brick tried to get up, but his arm was in deep pain "Oww, my arm…" Brick grunted as he looked at his dislocated arm, "Oops, forgot about that. Don't worry, bro, we'll patch it up in no time." Boomer spoke to him as he grabbed a piece of wood and brought it to Brick's mouth, Brick then bit into it, holding the wood piece in between his teeth. "Okay, brace yourself, bro, this is gonna be nasty." Boomer cautioned him, and then motioned Butch to grab his arm to reset it, "Stay brave, little buddy, this is gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you." Butch said, "I'd beg to differ." Brick mumbled.

One, two, THREE! And Butch pushed the arm back in place as fast as he could, "AARGGHHH!" Brick grunted, and spat out the wood piece, he then breathed heavily, Boomer then proceeded to fasten the wood piece on Brick's arm as a sort of splint, and slung it with a piece of cloth over Brick's neck, he'd be okay for the moment.

Brick then noticed all the other bandages on his body, on his forehead and temples, his lower torso, one of his shoulders, and all over his arms. "Looks like I won't be out for a while." Brick thought. Though he really wished Blossom was here, he'd feel a whole lot better then.

At the same time, the Powerpuff Girls were investigating the ruins of the warehouse, "Whoever did this must have something to do with the massacre from last time." Blossom said, "It looks like things are starting to heat up again in Townsville, it's about time!" Buttercup stated excitedly, "I dunno Buttercup; I have a bad feeling about this." Blossom thought.

Blossom then looked up at the sky, and raised her hand as if reaching for something. At that same moment, Brick raised his hand as well, also as if he was reaching for something. Blossom could somehow feel Brick's pain, and Brick knew she knew that as well. Both then separated their hands from the sky, unable to do anything for the meantime.

Elsewhere, the Black Ruff, Biarce, was making himself comfortable in a cave outside of Townsville, "This'll have to do." He said as he unfolded a rag over his lap as he sat down.

"So this is where I end up in now, huh? I wonder why at this particular moment in time? Bah, I'm sure she has her reasons, but for those guys who fought me earlier, it looks like I can finally have a real challenge." He said silently, as he looked at the sun shining through the entrance of the cave.

A/N: Not much point to this chapter, it's just a filler so I could introduce Biarce more quickly into the story, and Secret Murderer, if you're reading this, I'm sorry for not using your suggested name, it just didn't sit well with me, I hope you understand.

Blooper: Time Paradox

At the same time, the Powerpuff Girls were investigating the ruins of the warehouse, "Whoever did this must have something to do with the massacre from last time." Blossom said, "It looks like things are starting to heat up again in Townsville, it's about time!" Buttercup stated excitedly, "I dunno Buttercup; I have a bad feeling about this." Blossom thought.

At that moment, Brick raised his hands into the air, reaching out to Blossom.

Blossom then raised her hands in the direction of Brick, and extended her pointer and index finger, forming a scissor shape.

"gasp" Brick was shocked, "You can't beat me Brick." Blossom stated.

Brick then clenched his fist, but Blossom opened her hand.

Brick then formed the same scissor shape, but Blossom clenched her fist.

Brick then opened his own hand, but Blossom used the scissor shape again.

"Face it." Blossom said mockingly, "Grr…" Brick thought, he then walked out of bed, and extended his thumb, pointer and index finger towards Blossom, "Top that!" Brick exclaimed.

Blossom gasped, and suddenly, her mind was sent to an alternate dimension, where three illusions of Brick came face-to-face with her, "What?" Blossom said, slightly disoriented.

Suddenly, the three Brick illusions extended their hands, one formed a closed fist, the other, a scissor shape and the last one an open palm.

They started to circle around Blossom, she was defenseless. She then formed a scissor shape, trying desperately to beat him, but the Brick with the closed fist came up to her, she tried to fight back using an open palm, but was countered by the scissors.

Everything then went black as the three Brick illusions combined together and once again extended his thumb, and two fingers towards her.

Blossom was beaten, and a terrible ringing sound like a bell echoed in her ear as she returned to the real world.

"That's a dirty trick!" Blossom exclaimed as she turned and faced the warehouse ruins again, "You coward!" Buttercup exclaimed at Brick.

At that SAME, PRECISE, EXACT moment, Blossom aimed a Davy Crockett Atomic Battle Group Delivery System, or in laymen terms: A nuclear bazooka, pointblank at Brick's face.

Bubbles tried to stop her, "Hold your fire!" She shouted at Blossom, but the latter just shoved her away, "Come out Brick!" She exclaimed, as Brick hid behind a bookshelf. "Have you lost your rocker!" Brick exclaimed towards Blossom.

"It's… over." Blossom stated as she fired the bazooka. "AAAAAAHHH!" Brick shouted as everything was consumed in a nuclear blast.

_Narrator: Blossom, what have you done? You changed the future! You've created a **TIME PARADOX!**_


	3. First Strike

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: I know Craig McCracken was the creator, but this disclaimer stuff is getting old really fast

Episode 3: First Strike

Ofdarknesschaos: no, my friend, you wouldn't at all, as this chapter will reveal Biarce's more deadlier powers next.

Chibeh: "this reminds me of a movie i saw" it should, the scene was based on the "skinned victims" scenes from the Predator movies.

SithKnight-Galen: This guy's backstory is quite tragic in every sense of the word, but I will reveal it much later. Biarce's sad and terrible fate will be revealed in a (hopefully) six-part story-arc which I will put on later.

Overactive Mind: Bell will appear in this chapter, albeit as a cameo (Note: For now). Black and White was always a pretty good pair in my opinion.

Biarce was now wandering through the woods, although he had "fun" with his most recent kill, the pain and sorrow welled up in his heart caught up with him again, in the course of his long, sad life, he knew there was no hope for him left in the world of mortals.

He sat down on a nearby rock, bent his head so his face could not be seen, and began to wallow in self-pity, with no one by his side to comfort his melancholy.

Meanwhile, Brick was shifting through the channels of the TV at the boys' hideout, with nothing interesting on the tube. "sigh this is sooo boring, my mind should be out making plans for the next heist…" he then saw Blossom's image in his mind again, "Or at least outsmart her again." As he said this, he remembered all the intricately designed methods he used to escape Blossom over and over and over again.

If anything, Brick loved to play with Blossom, she was so cute whenever she was angry, and it was always a real joy to play "cops and robbers" with her.

But now, he needed to rest and heal, "Sometimes I wish my body would act on my will rather than lounge around lazily like this."

Biarce was still sitting on the rock, until suddenly, a mysterious stranger approached him, "So, you're Biarce, huh? Heh heh, tracking you down was a nightmare, I'll have you know." He said in a cocky voice.

This made Biarce look up from his bent position, "Easy now…" said the stranger, "I merely seek to put you to rest… eternally." He finished, "So, you think you have what it takes to "send" me from my sorrow? Very well then, I look forward to an end to the cursed life wrought onto me by fate!" Biarce spoke as he rose to see the stranger face-to-face, he was oddly dressed, he was wearing a white mask with two slits forming eyes to see through, and was only wearing black military style pants, his mask also had an opening at the mouth which was lined with serrations, giving him the appearance of sharp teeth.

"It is good that you are prepared to face me, for I am one of many Soul Hunters, the elite bounty-hunters of the Makai, and an adept in the art of the Death Puppet technique!" He exclaimed as three rotund objects with four sharp, blade-like appendages appeared at the Soul Hunter's side.

(A/N: If my Japanese serves me right, "Makai" should mean "Demon World")

"These are my prized Death Puppets, for they have accumulated 99 bounties in the past, and you shall be the hundredth!" He then ordered the three puppets to attack Biarce; However, Biarce raised one of his hands, and opened his palms at one of the Puppets, and instantly destroyed it. "So these are your best? Heh, not good enough." Biarce smirked, his opponent gasped at the simplistic ease of being able to bring down one of his best Puppets. Nonetheless, he decided to employ some tactical ingenuity on Biarce, first, he sent his other two Puppets as well as four more to attack Biarce at his sides. Biarce easily dispatched two of them by simply poking his index and pointer into their bodies, slicing them apart as he brought it down hard.

The Soul Hunter then brought out a giant blade and struck it on the ground, causing an energy shockwave heading for Biarce, but the latter summoned an energy shield to protect himself. "This isn't working; perhaps an attack on his vital vulnerabilities will suffice." The Soul Hunter thought.

He then brought his remaining Death Puppets to attack Biarce head-on; Biarce, becoming bored with this battle, summoned one of his energy orbs and threw it at the Puppets, instantly destroying them. As the dust cleared, Biarce noticed a spearhead pierced through his chest, apparently, the Hunter used the other Puppets as a distraction so he could attack Biarce from behind.

"Well Biarce, this was a good fight, but I'm afraid this is where it ends for you." He said with a smirk.

"You sure about that?" Suddenly, Biarce reappeared behind him, "What, but this-! Then-!" Suddenly, the Biarce that he had pierced with the spear vanished, "An illusion?" The Hunter was cornered now, "Imbecile, did you think I wouldn't know what was going on the whole time? When you yourself are a Puppet!" He spoke to the Hunter, "The real you… is right here!" And with that, Biarce pierced one of the trees with his pointer and index fingers.

And the true form of the Soul Hunter was revealed, a bald human shape fused onto the tree trunk, "Impressive… but how did you know I was here the whole time?" He asked, "Don't think I'm nothing but an inexperienced amateur at this kind of stuff, I'll have you know that body muscles are quite eloquent, they speak clearly what a person's next move will be, they even tell where someone is going to throw a punch even before they threw it, but I could sense nothing from your Puppet, instead, all I could hear was this tree." Biarce spoke as the Soul Hunter's final Puppet dismantled itself after its manipulator reached near death.

"Impressive, Biarce, you really know how to live up to your vicious reputation. Attempting to make you my hundredth bounty was a mistake it would seem." He said as he disintegrated with his flesh evaporating from his skin, "OF ALL THE SOULS YOU HAVE CONQUERED, I WILL NOW JOIN THEIR RANKS! AHAHAHAHAHA!" He shouted as the tree he fused with exploded.

"Another pathetic excuse for a challenge, I'm bored." Biarce spoke with disgust. He then decided to take another stroll through the woods.

As he went deeper, he came upon a beautiful grove in the forest, the place had a very pleasant feel to it, there was clear, pristine waters running through it, and sunlight shone upon it to show the true beauty of the scenery, filled with flowers and Lilly pads on the surface of the water.

In the middle of the grove was a young boy, a teenager by the looks of it, with shiny, silver hair (A/N: Not white, silver, there's a difference) and had purple eyes, he wore a silver coat over a white vest, and white khaki pants, he also had a sort of giant bird feather in his hands, it was thin at the tip, and was thicker at the bottom shaft; However, he was sliding his hand over the sides, as if it were a sword.

The boy then looked up with an empty face at Biarce, "They have unexpectedly become the leaders of the times." He spoke to Biarce, "So Biarce, what role do you envision will be yours in this time of great chaos?" He asked Biarce, "Who are you?" Biarce asked, for in all his life, he had never encountered someone such as this before, but the boy only replied with: "Our name is Blader, and I am still waiting for your answer."

This confused Biarce a great deal, what was he talking about?

However, Biarce was unable find the answer to the question he was asked nor his own, and this frustrated him, and so he flew back to Townsville, trying to take his mind off his worries the only way he knew how: Kill.

The Powerpuff Girls were in school, and didn't have time to patrol Townsville at the time.

Meanwhile, Biarce had walked into a convenience store, killed the proprietor, and destroyed the building.

Ms. Bellum came on the hotline again, and told them of what happened; they immediately rushed to the scene, and tried to assess the situation. "This looks even worse than the one from the warehouse." Buttercup said, as she looked at the damage wrought.

Suddenly, a mysterious black figure came walking from the fires of the damage, with a human skull in his left hand. "What the! Are you the one who did this!" Blossom shouted, looking at Biarce, "And if I am?" he asked the three girls. "Why you-, you're so DEAD!" Buttercup shouted as she charged for him, "She is so right." Biarce thought as he held out his palm, and easily repelled Buttercup.

"Whoa, this guy is tough." Buttercup remarked as she got back up to her feet. Blossom examined the mysterious boy, from the look of his overall appearance, he looked like a Rowdyruff Boy, but something about him was different from the other Rowdyruffs, something malicious and bloodthirsty.

"Are you one of the Rowdyruff Boys?" Blossom asked him, "If you're referring to those punks I fought back at the warehouse, then no, I'm not." He replied, this was undoubtedly not one of Brick's crew, Blossom thought, and if the warehouse was what she thought it was, then this guy must somehow be involved.

Then Biarce charged for all three of them, swept them with a kick, and punched each of them into a nearby wall, he then looked at the girls with a bored and dissatisfied look on his face, "Can't you fight better than that?" He asked the girls.

"Oh I'll give you a better fight, alright!" Buttercup exclaimed, and then she brought her hands together and rubbed hard until there was friction, and then, on her hand was a ball of fire, "Eat my fire!" Buttercup shouted as she tossed the fireball at Biarce. "You call that a fireball?" Biarce said as he caught the fireball in his hands and extinguished it by closing his fist, then Biarce levitated upward, but then a giant meteor burst from the ground under his feet, and floated along with him, his feet seemingly towing the giant rock.

He then brought his two hands together like a hammer, and hit the giant burning rock with it, it them rushed down, hit Buttercup, and sent her down to the ground with a big boom, knocking her unconscious.

"Hey, nobody does that to my sister!" Bubbles shouted as she flew overhead from Biarce, and let out a high-pitched squeal that summoned a massive sonic wave directed towards Biarce.

Biarce, however, did not move, instead, he brought out his right hand, and snapped the fingers, which caused an even stronger shockwave that over powered-Bubbles, and slammed her into a wall, the shockwave pounded her relentlessly until she was unconscious.

"You think you have what it takes to beat me?" Biarce said as he turned and faced Blossom with a sinister smile on his face, "Who is this guy?" Blossom thought, gathering the fact he was able to defeat her sisters in battle so easily, but Buttercup managed to get by Blossom's side, and Bubbles managed to recover enough strength to get up as well.

"No, not by myself." Blossom spoke, with a confident smile on her face, "Ready Girls?" She said to her sisters, "Ready!" They shouted, and then they grabbed each other's hands, and started to twirl in rapid motion, and they began to flash with light, and moved to strike Biarce with their "special attack."

(A/N: I never could catch the name of their "Powerpuff Tornado Attack" or whatever it was called, if any of you know it, you have my thanks.)

Biarce was impressed by this maneuver, but could see a fatal flaw in it as well. Biarce then charged a black ball of energy on his fingertip, it was the size of a marble, and tossed it at the girls.

Once it was at the center of the girl's energy ring, it burst into a massive stream of energy that sucked the girls into it. Biarce had created a powerful gravity well, which magnetized the girls into it, the force of the gravity well's attraction was crushing their bodies, before it finally dissipated. The three girls were now staggering on the ground.

"I see what you were trying to do…" Biarce commented on the girls' maneuver, "…but using a technique that was a sure-fire failure wasn't very smart, you were asking to get your bodies crushed." Biarce finished, and then he motioned his hands as he lectured the girls on their flaw, "You attempted to use accelerated motion to move against air resistance, and in this state of accelerated movement, resulted in exciting the dormant particles in the air, as you continued your accelerated rotation, the particles in the air are attracted to the force of your circular movement, in other words, you conjoined the air particles through the use of continuous rotation, the result are the particles becoming extremely volatile and active due to the friction caused by the accelerated movement…" he paused, then continued "… but the flaw in your maneuver was the fact that while you focused on increasing the potency of the particles outside the field, you left an empty area of open space that, due to the force of repulsion, was left unprotected from an outside interference. If you want it in layman's terms, you simply left an opening in your maneuver, and it was easy to insert any other attack into it." He concluded, this confounded Blossom, he seemed to have quite a lot of experience at this sort of thing, and as if reading her mind, he spoke: "It's all simple quantum physics, though my understanding of the subject is limited, I at least know a thing or two about this sort of thing." Biarce said.

Then he charged another energy ball on his hand, as if ready to finish the girls off, but suddenly, he stopped, and heard a voice speak into his mind, "_Not yet, the time for their demise is not to be at this moment of time, let them become stronger, and they will sate your thirst for battle._" With that, the voice echoed in his ear, and he simply walked away, "Wait…" Blossom spoke in a weak voice. "My name's Biarce, and that is all you need to know."

Later…

Brick couldn't stand waiting around at the hideout anymore and went for a walk.

He strolled around the park, and suddenly saw Blossom, wrapped in bandages like him, she must have noticed him too, and she had a look of contempt directed towards Brick, even though she was in love with him, any feeling she had for him at that particular moment would disappear, but now she was far too weak to try and do anything.

But much to her annoyance and displeasure, Brick decided to sit with her.

They sat in silence, until Brick spoke up, "So… he did a number on you too?" He asked innocently, "He sure did." Blossom replied. "Want a cookie?" She asked him kindly, and held out a box of cookies, apparently, she was feeding the crushed crumbs to the birds.

Brick gladly took one and ate it, while Blossom threw some more crumbs for the birds.

"Did you bake them?" Brick asked Blossom, "Yes I did, why?" Blossom asked, "They're not bad." Brick replied. After that, another moment of silence, and then Blossom spoke up "Of course they are!" she exclaimed at Brick.

A dysfunctional relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.

Boomer visited Bubbles at her house, after he heard that the Powerpuff Girls were seriously injured, he just had to check to see if Bubbles was alright, ever since they got together, he vowed nothing would ever hurt her, and he felt bad, no worse, for not being able to protect her when she needed it most, he somehow needed to ease her pain.

He then jumped through the window and found her sleeping on her bed, he slowly walked up to her, "Bubs?" he asked her, and at that moment, her eyes slowly opened and two pairs of blue eyes met together, "Hey Boomer, so what's going on?" She asked with a weak smile on her face, "Nothing in particular, I just wanted to see if you were alright." He replied, and hugged her; he was relieved that she wasn't too badly hurt. This was good for them, if not, the best.

A perfect couple, need I say more?

Buttercup's tough demeanor allowed her to heal much more quickly than the others, and she met at the usual hangout where she and Butch would have their friendly game of soccer.

There, she saw Butch walking towards her, although, they needed to talk about something first.

"He was unbelievable." Buttercup said, "I know, I barely lasted a minute." Butch said.

"So, I guess this means you aren't as tough as I thought you to be, huh?" Buttercup said, with a tone that meant she had changed the subject. "Ha! "The Butch" will never yield to you, even if we are friends; let us settle our rivalry here!" Butch shouted in his (fake) heroic tone and overdone sense of exaggeration, as they raced off for the field, ready to "extenuate" their soccer rivalry rather than end it.

A competitive rivalry, hey, this works.

Biarce was alone in the quiet solitude of Townsville Park's playground, standing on the seat of a park swing, he didn't know what _she_ had intended, but if it made his life more exciting, then come what may.

It was then that a young girl happened towards the park swing as well, and sat on another seat as she slowly swung on it too. Biarce then studied the girl's features; she had white hair with a black headband, and also wore a white matching dress, her iris were also just the same color as her hair and eyes: white, giving her the eerie appearance of a ghost, the only thing that he had to match her was his moon white skin.

One thing he didn't have was a green dog-shaped toy in her hands that ranted crazily like, "The Boss… she's defected!" Or "That's why I hate boorish military types!"

Yet something else also caught his eye, or rather mind, and it was that she had the same murderous intent as he did, though he could sense that the circumstances for becoming as such was from a child-like, sociopathic personality, she was like this from the get-go, whereas Biarce's purpose for becoming so was because of his never-ending sorrow, but they were the same in almost everyway, albeit in different colors.

There was also something about this girl that Biarce was attracted about, and smiled a sinister smile at the thoughts in his head. But these malicious thoughts immediately turned back into sorrow as he sighed heavily, sorrow seemed to follow him everywhere.

Biarce then jumped from the swing and started to walk away, any time for romance in his life would have to wait… for now.

A couple who have yet to find themselves, it doesn't really seem to matter that much, to Biarce anyway.

A/N: Not much to this chapter either, just a little something for the romance bit, and I also like to ask the readers if OC villains are okay with them, the "actual" first strike begins in the next chapter.


	4. Golden Boy

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: A Disclaimer

Chibeh: You'll see

Ofdarknesschaos(for chap 3): Don't worry

Ofdarknesschaos(for the intermission): Thanks, but I'm afraid I'll have to replace it with this, since it served no purpose anyway

SithKnight-Galen: Thanks for understanding man, you're a pal! And as for the relationships, I thought they might have required some more variety. And as for Bell, I think she will play a more central role in this "grand design" than I had earlier anticipated, but that remains to be seen.

Episode 4: Golden Boy

Princess Morbucks was perhaps one of the last villains left in Townsville, that is if you count the Gangreen Gang and the Amoeba Boys, she was the only real threat to the girls left.

"Argh! I can't stand this!" Princess shouted, as she ranted over her flawed plan to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, after letting out her fury, she lay on her bed, wondering if she'll ever defeat her arch-nemesis'.

As she pondered this, she suddenly saw a picture of herself when she was a baby; it was a picture of her first family reunion. Her eyes then fell upon a picture of her cousin: Prince.

"That's it!" She shouted in delight, "I'll just call my old cousin." She said mischievously.

Princess turned on her Yahoo! Messenger and contacted her relative.

Princess is richgirl and her cousin is Ggold.

richgirl: Hello Princey, it's been awhile.

Ggold: It sure has, and it's Prince!

richgirl: Whatever, are you open for a favor?

Ggold: Anything for family, name it.

richgirl: Thanks! Anyway, I'm certain you've heard of the Powerpuff Girls, right?

Ggold: Yes I have.

richgirl: Well, those girls are one of the meanest people here in Townsville, and I want to get rid of them! But I need help, so will you come over and help?

Ggold: Fine, I was getting bored here in the UK anyway.

richgirl: Thanks, cuz!

One week later…

The Powerpuff Girls were in school, doing what they do best: What they do best.

There was free time then, so the girls went their separate ways.

Blossom was reading some Sherlock Holmes books, trying to learn from the great detective's uncanny, and quite effective, methods.

Bubbles was drawing Boomer in various cosplays: First with Boomer in a spandex costume, carrying KuwagaRaiger's helmet, the second in a Megaman X costume, and the final one in what looked like Yamato Ishida.

Buttercup was trying to organize her time, and fail miserably.

All was well, until the hotline rang yet again, and they went to a certain area in town that was being attacked by Princess.

The girls headed over to the location of where Princess was attacking the city. There, they saw Princess donned in her usual battle armor, wrecking the town in her latest attempt to force a duel between her and the Powerpuff Girls.

"Alright, Princess, it's time you got another time out! In prison that is!" Blossom shouted towards Princess.

"Ah, Girls, so lovely for you to come here, but this is where you lose once and for all!" Princess shouted.

"Shut up already and let's get started!" Buttercup shouted.

But just as the girls were about to deal some damage to Princess, a pair of golden hazes swept through them as sparks flied. When the dust cleared, the girls looked up, and there were two figures standing behind Princess: One was wearing a stylized gold armor and looked like a male version of Princess, only with more accoutrements to his armor, like spikes on his shoulder plates, and a bulbous helmet that covered his hair, along with a red visor that covered his eyes. The other figure was more grotesque, it was like a cross between a gargoyle and a dragon, it was about the size of an average man, and it had scaly skin, some parts were also armored, and a pair of large leather wings, it also smiled a sinister, menacing smile on it's face.

"What the?" Blossom said, confused at what just happened, "Allow me to introduce you to my cousin: Prince Goldstar." Princess stated. "Great, now you're not only asking your dad, but the rest of your family now?" Buttercup asked sarcastically. "Oh not really, I just wanted him and his pet here to weaken you brats for me, the glory of your demise shall be mine!" Princess answered, and turned to her cousin, "You can stand back now." She said, motioning them to shoo.

The other two looked at each other, "Let's get a better view, shall we?" Prince said to the monster, Goldgoyle, "Okay." It replied, and they dashed in a golden haze on top of a nearby building, watching the battle below.

Princess was charging electric energy in her hands and prepared to destroy the girls, "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment, I'll have you know." Princess said as she sneered at the weakened girls, "You'll just have to wait a little longer." Blossom spoke under her breath as she suddenly jumped up and grabbed Princess, and slapped her into the ground ala CQC.

Blossom then kicked her waist as Princess spun in the air and came down with a thud.

"Ow." Princess grunted as she staggered back up. Blossom still had second wind, and so did Buttercup, "What the?" Princess was lifted from the ground, and Buttercup slammed her over her shoulders, like a wrestler.

From atop the building, Prince saw things weren't in favor for his cousin, he faced his monstrous pet, "Go" he told it, and the monster dashed down, again in a golden haze, and attacked the girls with blinding fast precision.

"You can't stand up to the power of Goldgoyle!" It shouted as the girls once again staggered on the ground, Blossom knew they needed to be quick on their feet against this monster, and stood up, she then put on a calm, composed face, as if ready for what Goldgoyle had for her next.

The monster growled loudly as it dashed for Blossom in its quick haze attack, Buttercup dashed to the monster's rear and restrained it, as Blossom mega-punched its gut with all the force she could muster.

The monster then fell to the ground in deep pain, and not only that, it spat out white gunk from its mouth, which was no doubt its lunch.

"Ugh, I'm not doing that again." Blossom said, looking at the nasty puddle of gunk.

From the building-top, Prince could see this was not going well, "Uh-oh, perhaps a few new allies are in order." He said as he looked at his palm, which contained a small cluster of little black and white people on it.

He then threw all the little people onto the ground near Goldgoyle, they splattered like slime on the ground, "Huh?" The girls looked at them curiously, and then suddenly, they started to morph into a more human shape, wielding strange curvy sticks that were apparently their weapons.

"Barmias! Attack!" Goldgoyle commanded the black and white group of "soldiers" and they rushed at the girls, moronically I might add. The girls fought back Prince's Barmias with relative ease, as they couldn't fly nor were they strong nor had anything special other than their unique color palette and wavy weapons. However, Goldgoyle used the opportunity to slowly recover his strength while the girls were battling the Barmias, and got back into the fray as soon as he was ready.

Blossom finished off the last Barmia before she was suddenly attacked by Goldgoyle again, the same went for Bubbles and Buttercup as well, "Can't keep a good monster down, I always say!" taunted Goldgoyle.

"Okay, that does it!" Buttercup shouted as she dashed towards Goldgoyle, which the latter easily dodged, but just as he was about to attack Buttercup, the Green Puff kicked her foot into Goldgoyle's mouth, causing his teeth to shatter, Buttercup then grabbed his shoulder and started running straight towards a wall, "Hey! Lemme go! AAHHH!" Goldgoyle shouted as Buttercup slammed his monstrous bulk into the wall, as he was down for the count Buttercup started to charge with golden energy, and her normal black hair turned blonde yellow.

"RRRAAAHHHH!" Buttercup shouted as a bright golden aura engulfed her body and yellow sparks of electricity flew across her body.

"Ka…" Buttercup said silently, "Me…" She continued, "Ha…" Goldgoyle looked in fear as Buttercup formed a powerful orb of energy in her hands that resonated with intense and powerful energy. "Me… WAVE!" Buttercup shouted as she unleashed a powerful wave of golden energy that completely destroyed Goldgoyle.

After that, Buttercup fell to her knees, breathing heavily as her hair assumed its normal color, the girls approach their tired sister with astonishment, "Buttercup… that was amazing." Blossom commented, "Yeah, where did you learn to do that?" Bubbles asked, "It just happened." Buttercup said, trying to explain it away.

However, Prince looked at the girls with no particular emotion on his face other than a sick sense of delight, "You think this is over?" He spoke towards the girls, and threw a gray ball-like grenade at where the remains of Goldgoyle lay.

Suddenly, the bulk of Goldgoyle rose from the decayed remains of the smoldering ground, and grew into a giant-sized monstrosity that roared loud and proud.

The girls looked at this massive bulk of a monster; Blossom tried to assess the situation, but was thrown back by an attack from a massive energy beam from its mouth, "Urgh… He's tough." Blossom remarked, seeing how strong this monster was.

Goldgoyle then proceeded to thrash everything in the city, "Blossom, that thing is blowing up the place! What are we gonna do?" Buttercup asked.

Blossom needed to think of something fast before this thing destroyed Townsville, then she recalled the gunk that it barfed out. She got an idea.

"I have an idea, Bubbles!" she looked at her Blue sister, "Yeah Blossom?" Bubbles asked, "You will be essential in the success of this, Okay, here's my plan…" Blossom then proceeded to tell the other girls her plan, it sounded kinda sick, but was worth it if it would defeat Goldgoyle.

Buttercup flew towards Goldgoyle, "Hey, over here, you bag o' vomit!" Buttercup taunted it, "Uuuraahhh!" Goldgoyle shouted as it proceeded to fire bolts of electricity, beams from its eyes, and its energy wave at Buttercup. But while he was doing this, Bubbles was sneaking under his legs.

Buttercup saw her under him; she waited for Blossom's signal.

"NOW!" Blossom shouted as she and Buttercup drove their fists into Goldgoyle's gut, this caused another spasm from Goldgoyle, but before he had time to cough up his "load" Bubbles, being the quickest of the Powerpuffs, fired a blast into his mouth, this sent Goldgoyle on his back to the ground, until the force of Bubbles energy blast imploded him from the inside.

Prince watched as his pet monster was destroyed, "Hmm… most intriguing." He commented, "INTRIGUING! Your monster just lost!" Princess shouted, angered by yet another defeat. "Hmm… We will have to withdraw for now." Prince said, "You mean we'll run away!" Princess shrieked, "I would prefer to call it 'tactical withdrawal'" he said as he and his cousin left the battlefield.

Meanwhile…

Biarce had watched the entire fight from atop a cliff overlooking Townsville, despite the girl's achievement, he was not impressed.

"Pitiful." He said as two figures, both very similar in appearance to Biarce appeared behind him, but they did not appear to be his enemies, but rather, allies.

"The war of boys is about to begin." He commented as the two figures came into view: One was draped in Crimson Red, and with blonde hair, the other, in Azure Blue with black hair.

"Yes, things are about to get fun." Biarce said one final time, still looking at the city.

Back at the Morbucks mansion, Princess was shouting obscenities while Prince entered a dark room, suddenly, a small speck of light appeared on his suit, as he pressed it like a button. He then began to converse with a secret companion.

"Yes, everything went per your instructions. Yes, it looks as if we are ready to initiate the first step, despite our loss of Goldgoyle, it doesn't necessarily mean we've wasted any of our valuable resources. Our primary concern, however, will be to plan how to kill that wildcard Biarce. He will pose a severe threat to the entire organization, that and if the other Rowdyruff Boys get wind of what is going on, their allotted part in this play will change drastically, and that won't be a good sign for any of us. I look forward to tomorrow morning's news flash, and I would have to say, the Powerpuff girls will pose an insignificant threat in the long-run of things, but potential threats must be nipped at the bud. Yes, I understand, Boss…"

With that, the knife of fate twists its blade against the backbone of the world.

A/N: I need a good name for an organization of bad-guys, if you have any suggestions, then please let me know by all means. And you can also decide what to name the Crimson and Azure Ruff, otherwise, I'll just go with their default names I already thought of.


	5. Hands of Fate

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply

Episode 5: Hands of Fate

A/N: trying to keep up with all my reviewers is getting a little out of hand, so I apologize but I will no longer comment on your reviews. Please forgive me, I'm sorry.

As Brick was finally beginning to heal himself of his wounds, he decided to take a little snooze to help recover quicker.

Brick awoke to find himself in a beautiful forest grove, unlike anything he had ever seen before. As he looked around he eventually saw a young boy sitting on a rock. The boy spoke to him, "Your role in this little endeavor is just as great as his." He said. Brick was confused "Huh?" he said, "He understands more than he gives you, but know that he is not your enemy, and very little will he last as such." He said, Brick couldn't make any sense, this guy was talking in cryptic words.

But just as Brick was about to ask more, an explosion engulfed the entire grove, and the entire place was in flames.

Brick snapped back to reality, was it all just a dream?

Meanwhile…

"We were in the moment, Barbatos." Blader spoke to a strange demonic figure that entered his grove. It was wearing pitch black half archaic-Greek half Medieval European armor; he had long fingers which ended in claws and had a black snake as a tail, he also had a huge pair of wings made entirely out of fire, and also had red-skin, a goatee on his chin, he was also bald, and a pair of small demon horns protruded his forehead. And then there were his eyes, his irises were glowing a sinister green, and his pupils were about the size of tiny pebbles and a black sclera, already adding to a frightening appearance.

"So, what brings you to this part of the spectral plane?" Blader asked the demonic figure, "I've come because I knew someone other than Biarce had a hand in this development." Barbatos answered, "You're not dense for a demon." Blader replied to him sarcastically.

"Don't mock my talents; I have perfected it after centuries of comprehension." Barbatos boasted, "So what? Your power may have been perfected, but it will still stand no chance against Biarce or us." Blader spoke, "You're really annoying when you refer to yourself in the plural sense." Barbatos said, commenting on Blader's speaking patterns.

"What can we say? We are composed of many souls, souls beyond ages that have already passed." Blader replied.

"Getting back to the issue, your presence in this entire affair is already a jeopardy to our plan." Barbatos spoke in a serious tone, "It is our job, our reason for existence is to direct fate towards the path it was meant for." Blader replied, "You rant on about this thing you call "fate", Well, Blader, not even fate will be able to do anything to stop us!" Barbatos stated, "Do as you like, Barbatos, it really doesn't matter to me that much." Blader replied, after that, Barbatos opened a portal in the middle of the burning grove, but before he left, Blader spoke one final thing to him, "But know this: You cannot change your fate, no man, no demon, not even a god will be able to stop the hands of destiny from moving."

With this knowledge, Barbatos exited through the portal and left. Suddenly, the fires that engulfed the grove extinguished itself, and the pristine, natural beauty of the place returned, as if it never caught on fire before.

Blader looked at the place where Barbatos had exited just now intently; then he turned his attention towards the sky. Just then, a white owl perched itself on his shoulder, "Yes, we know, but our role in this play has yet to begin…"

Meanwhile…

Barbatos returned to the heart of his stronghold: Daemon Bastion, and waited for the other members to arrive.

Just then, a mandrill with green skin and black fur arrived in the conference hall. "Saru Maru, you've arrived." Barbatos greeted his ally, "Spare me the pleasantries, Barbatos." Saru replied sarcastically. He was wearing a white lab coat with blue shorts, and was bare-footed, Saru also had a strange apparatus on his head: His massive brain was contained in a glass capsule, and it was also attached to a set of four spider-like legs from the apparatus too.

Another member arrived, this time; he had white fur and a massive ogre of a body, with only his face could be seen, if anything, he was reminiscent of a white-furred Sasquatch, but he wore a sort of caveman tunic around his torso with a single shoulder strap on his left shoulder, he was also carrying a wooden staff which ended in a hook shape with colorful feathers attached on it, giving him a sort of Native-American look.

"Hairy Wartfolk, good to see you." Barbatos greeted him, "Good to see ya too, pardner." Hairy replied.

Yet another one, this time: a woman, dressed quite scantily I might add, she was wearing a bandanna and scarf that covered her face save her jet-black hair. As for her attire, she was wearing a loincloth around her waist, and was wearing a red tube top and was also wearing leather sandals and arm bands. Her form was reminiscent of a gypsy or voodoo witch.

"Mz. Vixen, welcome." Barbatos welcomed her. "Hey ya'll." She said to the other members with a Louisiana accent.

Again, another member dropped in, he had long blonde hair, and was wearing a mask which looked kinda like the one worn by Rau Le Creuset from Gundam Seed. He was also wearing a silver jacket that had the symbol of the male on it: a circle with an arrow pointing outward from it. He was also admiring himself with a mirror.

"Narcis, the same as always." Barbatos complimented him, "Beauty is hard work maintaining you know." Narcis replied.

Another member, this time, he looked like a Rowdyruff, or for that matter, an exact replica of Boomer, yet something was very disturbing about his appearance: He looked exactly like Boomer, except the pupils of his eyes were just as small as Barbatos's, and his eyes glowed an eerie blue, they were also crying tears of blood, literally, and his hands were also bleeding from one small puncture on each palm, like he was having stigmata.

"Bloodshot, you've arrived as well." Barbatos spoke to him, "I know." Bloodshot replied in an empty voice.

And finally, the last member: Prince Goldstar himself, donned in his full golden glory.

"Goldstar, you've made it." Barbatos spoke to him. Goldstar didn't speak, instead gesturing his hands in a "you're the man" pose towards Barbatos.

"The entire Daemon Guild, together again." Barbatos spoke, chuckling evilly.

All the other members nodded in agreement, they had finally reunited after the short time they dealt with HIM just a few days ago.

A/N: Blader needed more time in the spotlight anyway, and besides, I'm still waiting for good names of the Crimson and Azure Ruff.


	6. Black Thunder

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Same as the previous one

Episode 6: Black Thunder

Daemon Bastion…

"Why have you summoned us here, Barbatos?" Saru asked.

"It would seem our friends of the Darkstar Council have decided to force another showdown with us." Barbatos explained.

"Again? Them Yankees don't know when ta' quit." Hairy said.

"But ya know, them same Yankees really know how to keep us in shape." Said Mz. Vixen.

"True, they know how to ensure we never break our beautiful image." Narcis said, continuing to admire his looks on his mirror.

"Indeed, which is why we must once again prove we are superior. Prince, I leave command of our forces to you, don't let us down." Barbatos spoke to Goldstar.

"Do not worry sir, as your strategist, it is my obligation." Goldstar replied.

After that, everyone left the conference hall, while Barbatos went to prepare their forces for the Darkstar Council's confrontation.

Townsville…

Meanwhile, the Power Puff Girls had apprehended another wrong-doer from a bank; everything seemed as if everything was back in order.

As for the Rowdy Ruff Boys, Butch was wondering if it was time for pizza, Boomer thought if Bubbles was free for a date, and Brick was trying to come up with a new name for the team, "Rowdy Ruff Boys" no longer did any justice to their reputation as thieves rather than thugs.

In another part of town, a group of factory workers were busy at some power plant near Townsville, "Hey, after we're done here, wanna go for a beer?" asked one of them to one of his co-workers. "Sure, why not?" said the other.

As soon as they were finished, they headed out to get a beer, when suddenly, a massive surge of red and blue electric waves engulfed the entire power plant, and everything exploded, and all that remained were smoking remains.

One of them, however, managed to survive, but not for very long. He managed to get through the rubble, but then saw a black figure walking towards him, "Wha-?" but before he could react, the figure strode towards him and snapped his neck.

Suddenly, two other figures, obscured by the smoke, approached him, sparking with red and blue electric energy, "This should be enough of a ruckus to attract their attention."

Elsewhere…

The Rowdy Ruff Boys were still in the process of gathering their thoughts when they heard the ruckus with their super hearing senses, and went to check it out.

When they got to the site of where the chaos had ensued, everything was almost completely in shambles. As they searched throughout the ruins of the place, they could make out a black, ominous figure slowly walking towards them. Brick recognized this as Biarce, the Black Ruff who had wounded him just earlier.

"Hey, it's been a while hasn't it?" Brick asked Biarce.

"Yeah, a little too long for my tastes." Biarce replied.

"Well, I hope you're ready for round two." Brick said, going into a fighting position.

"All right, then." Biarce said.

Brick and his brothers had also put up a fighting position, but before they could even do anything, a massive surge of electric energy swept them and made them fall to the ground. When they staggered back up, they saw two figures, a crimson red one, and an azure blue one.

"By the way, I made a few new friends while I was away." Biarce said as the two other boys stood by his side, "This is Bart." Biarce said, motioning his hands to introduce the Crimson Ruff, "And this is Blake." Biarce said again, introducing the Azure Ruff.

"And together, these two are the Thunder Ruff Boys! Okay, maybe that wasn't original enough, but at least it works, right?" Biarce asked the Brick and his Brothers.

"So you have two new buds, huh? Well, at least this makes it even." Brick commented, looking the two new Ruffs over.

"Butch, go for the one in Red, Boomer, go for the one in blue, I'll go for Biarce." Brick told his brothers his plan, "Leave this to "The Butch"!" Butch exclaimed in his eagerness.

"You got it, bro." Boomer said, preparing himself for the fight.

"Well guys, you have your opponents, enjoy it while it lasts." Biarce said sinisterly towards his cohorts, "Of course." Blake said in an equally vile tone, "I've been waiting for this!" Bart said eagerly.

And the three Rowdy Ruffs, the two Thunder Ruffs, and the Black Ruff engaged in their first battle together…

Meanwhile…

The Darkstar Council assembled their forces at some desert in the middle of somewhere in the world, at that same moment, the Daemon Guild's top R&D Supervisor were getting their own forces for the assault. While Goldstar, ever the crafty strategist of the Guild, was planning his next ingenious plot against the Council.

"…while the main force acts as a decoy, and keeps the enemy busy, Hairy will lead the secondary strike force from behind the mountain's summit. Forcing the enemy to our main force below, the secondary force will then join the others in the assault, thus, a pincer is formed to squeeze the life out of the enemy. The plan… is all set." Goldstar had finished relaying his plan against the Council.

"But what if the Council, you know, releases their secret weapon?" one of their troops asked.

"Don't worry, that's what we have Bloodshot for." Goldstar calmly stated.

Everyone once again prepared for the next attack, confident in their ability.

Townsville…

Brick and his brothers were getting a beating from the fight.

Boomer was trying to punch Blake, but the latter dodged each attempt one after the other, Boomer then tried to kick him at the shins, but that didn't work either. So he turned to using his super-strong fist attacks, Blake countered by using his own, and their fists collided together, forcing them back a great distance. Boomer tried to recover, but Blake shot him with an electric current that paralyzed him. He was dazed for a few moments before he tried to see what was happening, but as soon as he did, Blake rushed in and kicked his shin into Boomer's gut; he then grabbed the back of Boomer's head, and then flipped him over his leg which was still lodged to Boomer's abdomen, and Boomer landed painfully on his back.

Butch and Bart were doing all sorts of martial arts moves, Butch tried to punch him, but Bart ducked to avoid the blow. Bart then tried to sweep his foot to ground Butch, but Butch easily jumped over that. Bart then spun around in the air, and fired two volleys of his lightning burst attacks at Butch, but the latter back-flipped to avoid the blast, he then fired one of his own blasts at Bart, but Bart summoned another stream of electricity at Butch, and both their beams collided, at first, they were evenly matched, but eventually Bart saw a nearby live fuse box, he extended one of his other hands, and a surge of electricity came out of it, giving Bart an energy boost. Butch couldn't keep it up, and his own beam was soon dispersed by Bart's own Red Lightning attack. Butch was repelled to a bunch of oil drums nearby.

Brick and Biarce were hitting each other with punches and kicks, Brick tried to hit him at the head and torso, but Biarce blocked his strikes, Brick then turned to attacking his legs, but Biarce countered his kicks of his own, and neither made any headway in their attacks. Eventually, they challenged each other to a test of speed, and turned into red and black hazes as they struck each other with a multitude of attacks, eventually, Brick was able to get the upper hand, and hit Biarce with a deathblow hit.

Both competitors stopped as Brick saw Biarce staggering on the ground, "Had enough?" Brick asked mockingly, feeling triumphant.

"Hardly." Biarce said as he vanished into thin air.

"Wha-?" but before Brick could analyze what had happened, Biarce kicked his back, sending Brick flying, Biarce immediately dashed to his front, where he did an uppercut, sending Brick flying upwards. Biarce then zipped towards the sky, where, using his two feet, hit Brick, sending him careening towards the ground, where Biarce once again administered a powerful, twice the power than last time, uppercut that exploded in Brick's torso.

Brick landed on the ground near where his brothers had just got back up. "I see you've gotten more skilled since our previous meeting." Biarce commented on Brick's skill, "But you're still not up my level, I'll let you off, provided you get better in the future."

And with those words, Biarce left again.

"Darn, we've been beaten again!" Butch shouted at his dismay.

"Dude, this is, like, starting to get monotonous." Boomer said.

They were about to leave, when they heard a loud "FREEZE!" behind them, it was Blossom, no doubt about it.

"Alright, what happened here?" Blossom asked as she and her sisters assumed a fighting stance towards the boys, "Uh… listen, we can explain." Brick tried to tell her, "Did you do this Brick?" Blossom asked, Brick knew where this was going.

Boomer quickly threw a grenade at the girl's feet, when it exploded it produced a loud bang and a blinding white light. "Ah! A flashbang!" Blossom shouted as she was incapacitated by the light and sound.

As soon as it cleared, the boys were gone. Bubbles and Buttercup were relieved they didn't have to fight, but not Blossom, "Damn it!"

Back with the confrontation with the DC and DG…

The Darkstar Council seemingly fell for the Goldstar's ploy when reports of them charging down from the mountain were told. But Goldstar was smarter than that, "No, it is too early for the pincer to have worked." Goldstar reasoned.

Meantime, at the mountain's summit, Hairy was ambushed by the Darkstar Council, and it looked as if it would take a while to get back down the mountain.

While at the slope of the mountain, Commander D was leading the Darkstar forces on an assault towards the Daemon Guild's main camp, "You're petty tricks will not stop me this time, Goldstar. Your head will be my trophy!" He exclaimed as he charged. Ever since the DG and the DC became bitter rivals, Goldstar and Destruction(A/N: D is how he is also known) became strategy rivals in their individual groups, and are barely on speaking terms with each other.

"Impressive, D, but you're not making this any easier for yourself." Goldstar commented on D's crude tactics.

Hairy was on the verge of defeat, but was saved when Mz. Vixen showed up, "Don't worry, Hairy, we've a' come to bail you out." She said.

"Much obliged for the assist Mz." Hairy thanked her.

As soon as they were finished, they quickly rushed to join the battle as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, Dr. X had let Bell loose on the battlefield in an attempt to snuff out the DG, but what she wasn't expecting was an ambush.

As she was surrounded by an army of Barmias, she saw others among their ranks, whom were the other members of Bloodshot's Secondary Special Unit: a fat guy surrounded by a swarm of hornets: The Pain. A ninja wearing a shark-faced mask: Sandaaru. A pale guy with black hair and red robes: Kurei. And Bloodshot himself.

"So, you wanna play again?" Bell asked Bloodshot, "I guess so." Bloodshot said innocently.

The two assumed fighting positions and duked it out yet again.

Anyway, Hairy and Vixen had made it back to the fray, and it would appear that the tide had changed in favor of the Guild yet again.

"Damn, we will have to retreat." D thought as he gave the order to pull back.

Even Bell was getting "bored" with Bloodshot and left as well.

"Misfortune arrives in droves. You almost had me there D, but not close enough." Goldstar commented.

From his high chair at Daemon Bastion, Barbatos saw that everything went well, but was suddenly attacked by a surge of psychic energy that shot into his head.

_Is everything secure?_ A voice asked, "Urgh, yes Boss, everything is going according to your instructions, it will not be long now." Barbatos replied to it, _Good, remember Barbatos, I own you, and you will do nothing to question my authority!_ It spoke again. "Yes Boss…" Barbatos replied.

Meanwhile…

Blader was watching the two fights at the same time, "So, it has come to this…" He then took out a black amulet embedded with a shining onyx stone, "It is time for him to remember." He said as he looked at Biarce on his mystic pond. He also picked up a gold circlet with the kanji (Japanese symbol) for king shaped at the center: a single, long vertical line with three shorter horizontal lines intersecting the top, bottom and center of the vertical one. "…And for him to do so as well." He said looking at Prince's image in his mystic pond.

End of chapter

Joke of the Moment: Fight for the Role!

Brick was standing behind some ruins of a damaged building with Barmias being bombarded from behind.

However, when one of the bombs hit the ground near Brick, the wall of what remained of the building collapsed, and the Barmias saw him, the bombardment stopped too.

_Dull Silence…_

…_Followed by a loud laugh from the crowd._

(A/N: They're on a stage with a glowing white floor and the "building ruins" were just props)

Upon being seen, Brick made a dash towards the other end of the stage, chased by the Barmias. When he got to the other end, he saw a group of director's chairs put in a circle.

Brick turned his back and saw the Barmias running towards him; he then put up a fighting stance, but the Barmias simply kept running past him and went towards the director chairs.

Each one then sat on a respective chair, and each time they did, a different set of words appeared flashed behind the chair.

One said "_Screenplay Writer_".

Another said "_Stunt Coordinator_".

Still another said "_Sound FX Coordinator_"

And another, this time "_Casting Director_".

When Brick saw he could be part of the cast, he tried to get himself a seat, but each one got taken over by a Barmia every time.

One took the "_Cinematographer_" chair.

Another took the "_Gaffer_" chair.

And the "_Lighting_".

And the "_Producer_".

And the "_Sponsor_".

Finally, there was one free chair left, but another Barmia tried to get to it. Brick managed to grab the guy and slammed him to the ground, the chair was his…

_Crowd laughing…_

…Until he saw that another Barmia was already there, a dull pause was set in motion, and the Barmia took the seat. Instead of a set of large bold words, it was two small words over two larger ones, and it said: Directed by Dennis Gerbera.

_Cheering from the crowd._

Brick, angered by this, pulled out an AK-47 and started shooting like crazy at the Barmias…

_Everything turns red as Brick brutally kills off the Barmias while a suspenseful music plays in the background…_

As the dust clears all the Barmias are dead and Brick takes one of the fallen seats as his own and sits down triumphantly…

_Loud cheering from the crowd, but suddenly stops…_

When Brick "removes" his hair, revealing a wig, and also removed his "eyes" revealing colored contact lenses, Brick then put on a pair of glasses, revealing him to be…

_Dexter_

His face gives off a "prettyboy" smile as his eyes give off a shiny sparkle effect.

_Loud booing from the crowd_

Everything turns dark after that…

We now see Dexter in his normal lab suit walking in a dimly lit area of the stage, as he continues walking he suddenly sees another empty director's chair, noticeable by a single stage light making it stand out from the dim light. He then moves in to claim the chair, but sees another figure in the distance.

It was the REAL Brick, coming back in after Dexter tied him up in his locker and tried to pose as him.

_Loud laughing…_

The two look at each other with contempt in their eyes: Dexter, because he wanted this chance, and Brick, who felt he needed to give the audience "what they deserve"

_Everything turns red again as the two combatants rush at each other while battle music, dramatic I might add, plays in the background._

Dexter dodges Brick's attacks, each one trying to get the advantage. Eventually, Dexter stuns Brick in the face, and hits his gut with his elbow and fist.

Brick is disoriented for the moment as he tries to regain balance; he uses a different stance, as if his hands were snakes, this confuses Dexter, but he tries to hit Brick, but Brick easily and fluidly dodges it, he then punches Dexter in the gut and backflips him onto his back.

Dexter stands up and tries to hit him again, but Brick flips over him using his arm as leverage and slams Dexter face-first into the floor.

Dexter gets up yet again, and sees Brick standing by the edge of the stage, he goes off to try and hit him, again, and this time, Brick lodges his leg into his stomach, and grabs the back of his head, backflipping Dexter over the stage and into the cold, hard blackness of the floor.

Brick now finally assumes command of the chair made especially for him as everything goes back to normal, as in the lights are back on.

Brick then heads for the chair and triumphantly sits down, as he did, the words "MAIN CHARACTER" flashes at the back of the chair as Brick pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking it.

_Loud cheering and clapping._

After a while, Dexter finally gets back up the stage.

_Light Laughing from the crowd…_

Dexter looked around, and it looked like the Director was generous enough to get an extra chair for him, and Dexter gladly took up the chance to sit on it, however as he sat down, the words "SELF DESTRUCT" appeared behind the chair, and Dexter, unable to react, was blown off stage for good.

_Everything goes black…_

…_Followed by really loud cheering and clapping and whistling from the crowd._

_THE END._

A/N: Well, what do you think?


	7. Mind of the Beast

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 7: Mind of the Beast

Blader was busy preparing something on his rock in the woods; apparently, he would need to if he was going to succeed in his little endeavor into the unknown.

Just then a white owl came and perched itself onto his shoulder, the creature then looked at Blader inquisitively, and as if he knew what it was asking, Blader spoke to it.

"We'll be out for a little while, so be a good little boy and wait for us here, alright?"

The owl gave another inquisitive look, and Blader once again responded:

"The air around our home has suddenly caught an unnerving wind as of late, so we're off to investigate what troubles these times."

The owl then gives a look of understanding and flies off.

As Blader is left alone in his grove, he stands up and contemplates the life he has chosen to live, but he immediately removed these thoughts and returns to the task at hand.

He takes a large, ragged poncho and wraps himself around it as he leaves the safety of his forest home.

A couple of miles off, he suddenly comes across a clearing, interesting how this would also happen to be the first time he would actually go beyond the spectral forest which he had always taken residence in. He proceeds further through until he jumps down from a low plateau.

The scene immediately shifts into savannah grassland, where he continues walking, looking up at the sky, it wasn't blue, but psychedelic, like a color palette gone completely wrong. He continued trudging through, with barely any sign of life visible despite the wide growth of vegetation thus far.

Suddenly, Blader catches a new scent that had just passed through the wind, he pauses. All was silent.

He looked around, but sees nothing; he closes his eyes and tries to hear where it might be.

More silence…

Suddenly, something jumps from the ground and nearly claws Blader with its huge paws, but Blader easily dodged the attack. After that, the creature started to circle around him, roaring and snarling like a wild and vicious beast, Blader used the opportunity to examine it: It was a large, lion-like creature, but it's size was twice the normal size of a normal lion, it was also scaly from its appearance and sported a pair of dragon wings from its back, and it had a long tail, which looked more like the tail of an emperor scorpion, and much more larger and flexible too. "A manticore, eh?" Blader said after examining the fierce creature.

"Alright, let's see if we still got the moves!" said Blader as he took out his Ziz feather sword and took a fighting pose.

The creature growled and shot one of its tail stingers like a projectile at Blader, but the latter easily deflected it with his sword and ran towards the beast. But the manticore spat out a white liquid from its mouth, forcing Blader to pull back a moment, since he knew manticore saliva was acidic.

"Whoa! Almost had us there, huh?" Blader spoke to the manticore. The creature, from the looks of it, was beginning to get frustrated.

Blader then dashed forward again, the manticore spat out its acid gunk, but Blader bobbed to the side and avoided it, the manticore, although taken by surprise, rolled over to the side opposite of where Blader was, and shot a volley of spikes from its tail. But Blader jumped over the volley and onto the manticore's back, the creature then started jumping wildly like a rodeo bronco, and Blader was holding onto its wings.

The creature continued its bucking, that is until Blader violently ripped its wings apart, the creature roared loudly in pain, and tumbled into the ground. Blader then looked at the crippled creature. "Can't have you making the spectral plane a nasty place, can't we?" he spoke to the creature; he then grabbed it by the chin and drove his sword through it, killing the manticore as the creature dissolved into dust in the wind.

"Well, that was refreshing." Remarked Blader, pleased with himself.

He continued to move through the plains, until he came upon some archaic ruins in front of him. He jumped up and stood on a stone pillar which was still standing, and began to survey the surrounding area, as he expected, he saw the cause of the disturbing wind: A castle, and one with an ominous and foul air lingering from it.

Blader stood there for several minutes, still looking intently at the castle. Suddenly, a large plume of smoke emerged from the highest tower from the foreboding edifice.

That was his cue…

Inside the castle, two 'guards' were busy making their daily patrols around and about the castle.

"…So, what makes this place so important anyway?" asked one of the guards.

"You mean you've never heard of the Legend of Crimson Castle?" said the other in surprise.

"Never." Replied the first guard.

"Well, I at least hope you know about the Crimson Conflict?" asked the other guard.

"That I've heard, it was a time when all manners of beings, cosmic and mortal, mystic and demonic, god-like and grotesque, battled for the future of the realms." Replied the guard.

"Yes, well, during the final days of that war, a powerful, yet malevolent, god-like entity rose to dominance. In an attempt to destroy the realms as we knew it, this mysterious being flooded all the realms with those that she had enslaved in the confusion of the conflict."

"She?" asked the first guard.

"Yes, apparently, it was an insane goddess with strong motives for doing what she did. When it all seemed bleak for the seemingly then losing side, hope had managed to pull through. In a last, desperate stand to stop her, nine brave warriors invaded her stronghold."

Flashback…

"Do you believe such puny beings such as yourself can truly stand up against me!" shouted the evil being.

"Oh yeah, well, let's show you what kind of puny strength we have!" said one of the warriors.

End flashback…

"And as it went on for what seemed like nearly 50 or a hundred days of endless fighting, the warriors who opposed the Dark Being were victorious, but at a high cost: seven of those warriors lost their lives during the fighting, and an eighth sacrificed his life in order to defeat her." Said the other guard.

"So what happened to the ninth one?" asked the guard.

"No one really knows, he just seemed to fade from history as if he never participated in that battle at all." Replied the other guard.

"Hey! You two, get back to your posts!" shouted the guard captain towards the two.

"Yes sir!" they said, but as they turned around…

"gasp Captain!" they shouted.

"What is it?" as soon as the captain turned to see them, he was shocked by what he saw…

"Tres…passers." Said the guard as he murmured his last words.

"Why you! How dare you barge into this place!" said the captain towards Blader.

"Yeah, and how dare you draw a sword towards a guest." Blader said to the guard as a massive milk-white snake snuck up from behind and wrapped the guard in its body, and then quickly bit his head off before disappearing into a fine mist.

"Huh, looks like our entrance wasn't as subtle as we had hoped…" Blader said as a horde of guards suddenly started running towards him.

"Let's see, this shouldn't be too hard." Said Blader as he examined the sentries coming towards him.

Then he brought his feather sword and struck the side of a wall, the force forced the entire wall to collapse on the hapless guards.

"That takes care of one little nuisance, hello? What do we have here?" he looked out and saw another troop of guards, this time wearing heavy duty armor.

"The nerve, depriving me of sleep!" shouted one of them, "Let's just get this over with!" shouted another.

"Imbeciles." Remarked Blader.

Blader then jumped into the air and released some pellets from his vest, "Whoa! Back up guys, some odd objects have fallen from the sky!" exclaimed one of them.

Suddenly, the pellets started to disperse a fine mist, and out of the mist emerged a small army of giant white snakes, and all easily squirmed their way into the fray, and one by one, picked off all of the guards in a brutal and artistic fashion.

"Now that that is settled, it's time to… oh for crying out loud!" Blader sensed yet another group of defenders rushing towards him, or rather, attackers.

Four eerie looking demonic figures emerged from the ground, all wearing a hollow smiling mask that hides their true faces, "I wonder if you'll be any better than the others?" Blader asked them.

Then, they all came running towards him, "Guess not." Blader said in a disappointed tone, and then he took his feather sword and turned it around to use the sharp-ended pommel, he then wrote a word into the air using his magic quill pen, and it said "Ether". Suddenly, a cluster of small glowing orbs were dispersed from the letters, "Heh, we need to finish up soon you know?" Blader spoke to the demons.

The cluster of glowing orbs then fused into a much larger orb, "Check this out!" He shouted, and tossed the large sphere of ether energy at the nearby wall, causing it to explode, "Whoops, made a miscalculation there." Blader said in a joking manner.

One of then demons then summoned a hail of spikes from its back, and gathered electric energy into it; it then dispersed it into a long-flowing stream of energy, Blader used his arm and simply shoved the attack away, "Be careful! Everyone knows electricity is dangerous." He said mockingly.

Then another demon summoned long, sharp metallic claws and tried to swipe Blader with it, but the latter moved sideways to avoid the blow, the demon used his other claw and tried to cut Blader from the bottom, this too was avoided, finally, the demon used that same claw and tried to hit Blader as he rose to his feet.

"You need more practice." Said Blader, then he jumped up and avoided the attack, this followed by him grabbing his opponent's face and, in an awesome display of brutality, spun around, twisting the demon's neck, with blood spewing on all angles, then finished him off by lifting him up, and smashing the body face-first into the hard ground.

Another demon rushed forward and summoned a large spike of bone to stab Blader with, Blader ducked to avoid the blow, and drilled his bare hand into the demon's gut, and blood spewed from the mask it was wearing, then Blader finished him off by using his other hand and forcefully extracting his opponent's guts out.

Yet another jumped up and summoned a vale of spikes from his chest, Blader looked up at him with a contented face…

Inside the castle's inner sanctum…

"So, what is this dire news of which I have not yet heard?" asked the castle lord to his attendant.

"Excuse me, my lord, t'would appear that we have hit a vermin running rampant on the outer castle." Replied the attendant.

"Vermin? All this fuss over a measly little rat?" said the castle lord in an annoyed tone.

"Er…" stuttered the attendant, but the lord continued "This little hindrance in our plan does is naught but a nuisance in our grand little play: the revival of our master, Lord Astaroth. Whoever comes to bear us down, we will bear it in full force, is that understood?" he spoke to his servant.

"Yes sire." Replied the attendant.

At that moment, an explosion was heard, and the wall burst open, and from it, was the demon that tried to impale Blader, it was tossed over the balcony, and into a vat of lava below.

"Sorry for the intrude, but what you're doing is causing a great havoc everywhere else, so we must stop you." Blader said innocently, with the body of the fourth demon in his hand.

"I'll teach you to wreak havoc! Drop dead!" shouted the attendant, and his skin ripped off to reveal an even more demonic creature, although lacking the mask, revealing the most grotesque face anyone has ever seen.

Blader threw the dead body on his hand towards the attendant, unfazed, the attendant shoves the carcass offs and continues to rush for Blader, but as soon as he turned back to Blader, a massive tree-person thing appeared in front of him, caught off guard, he couldn't react to the thing's mega punch as he was sent flying towards the lava vat as well, then the tree thing dispersed into vines and began to troop away in different directions.

"So, you're the little rat that everyone's been fussing about?" asked the castle lord.

"That's correct." Blader replied.

"What have you come here for?" the castle lord asked.

"We've come to set things straight, what you're doing is already going against the balance of everything in the realms." Replied Blader.

"Precisely! You've left out a major consideration! Now that humans have lost their free will, the realms, as we know it, have become the playthings of the gods! In order to maintain some form of balance, it is imperative that Lord Astaroth be revived! To challenge those overbearing gods!" said the castle lord in an excited tone.

"We don't give a shit what you want to do with what you want to do, We're taking this place down, and everything will be all fine and hunky-dory from that point." Blader replied, though in a relatively calm voice.

"All right, since you certainly won't fall for whatever I offer you, I'll just have to force this issue, and when I'm through, there'll be none left to challenge us!" exclaimed the castle lord.

Suddenly, his flesh ripped apart, revealing a huge behemoth of an arm, and then his other arm, and then his torso, now, only his head was disproportionate to the rest of his body.

"An imbecile like you…"

Suddenly, a pair of huge tusks grew from his eyes, and his head ripped open to reveal a large T-rex head thing.

"…WILL NEVER HAMPER THE REVIVAL OF LORD ASTAROTH!" said the lord, now a huge dinosaur behemoth thing.

"Give it your best shot." Said Blader towards him.

"Gladly, allow me to send you down a one-way trip to Hell! Adios, Fool!" And he summoned massive amounts of energy and flung it at Blader, where it exploded in a large BOOM, when the light died down, everything was in smoke.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!" shouted the greater demon.

Suddenly, a sword was shot from the dust, and it landed just below his shoulder, where it exploded as the pain shot into the Greater Demon's body.

"GGRAAAHHHH!" shouted the demon.

"They didn't taste very good…" Blader said in reply to the demon's earlier question.

Then the demon got back up and tried to hit Blader with his massive tail, "I'M GONNA BURY YOU!" He shouted, but Blader looked up at the incoming tail, but he simply raised his arm and stopped the giant tail in its tracks.

"HUH?"

"You need to take your vitamins." Said Blader.

And he used his free hand and placed it on the tail, and then the tail exploded violently when a charge of sound was passed through it.

"And about that trip to Hell you offered, thanks, but we got no time for vacation." Blader replied.

"HEH, THIS AIN'T NOTHING." Said the demon, as his dismembered tail returned to its place, "WITH LORD ASTAROTH'S SPIRIT SHIELDING ME, I AM INVINCIBLE!" he shouted.

"You are pitifully dim." Blader spoke towards him.

The demon then tried to smash Blader with his massive left arm, but Blader stepped back to avoid the attack.

The demon then tried to hit him with his right, but Blader shoved it into the wall opposite his left side.

The demon snorted and swiped his right arm again towards Blader, but the latter back-flipped over it and opened his palm towards the demon's right arm, a gust of wind blew out and wounded the demon's arm.

"HEH, I'M SO GONNA WASTE YOU!" the demon shouted, unfazed.

And used his left arm and tried to swipe Blader; in a quick haze, Blader dashed to the other side of the arm, and when the demon looked at his own arm, it was cut in X-shaped scars on four places.

Blader then raised both his hands, the nails started to glow, and so did his fingers, then his entire hands.

He then brought it down into the ground, a beam of light raced on the ground towards the Demon, and a huge owl talon pierced his stomach.

"URGH, THIS FELLA'S GOT SOME PRETTY GOOD MOVES. LORD ASTAROTH! GRANT ME A RENEWAL, IN BODY AND IN STRENGTH!" It cried to its master.

"You beseech in vain, our Ziz Blade lodged on your body has severed the psychic link between you and Astaroth. In other words, you're on your own, buffoon." Blader explained.

"WHAT?" shouted the demon in a panicked voice.

Suddenly, all around the castle, everything was engulfed in light, the demon roared loudly as the owl talon that struck it caused the creature to implode.

"NOOOOO! THIS CANNOT BE!" the demon shouted.

"HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS BEING CAN UNDO THE GREAT ASTAROTH'S PROTECTION? UNLESS… IT CAN'T BE! YOU CANNOT... GGAAAHHHH!" and the demon met his end.

Blader grabbed his Ziz Blade as it fell from the sky. Then, the tree-thing reemerged and walked towards Blader, "Everything is ready, old friend." Said the creature to Blader, "Excellent… I suppose this means we can go home now."

The two walked away from the castle, and a couple of miles off, a huge explosion was heard, the tree spirit, or Treant, as I'd like to call him, had rigged the castle to blow and be completely destroyed, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

"Are you watching, Bragel? If you are, I know you will be quite proud of me." He spoke towards the sky.

Flashback…

A lone warrior draped in gold raised a staff and a longsword up, "My… courage… exists to create the future!" he exclaimed.

"You shall not take the future from us!" he exclaimed towards the Dark Being.

End Flashback…

End of Chapter

Joke of the moment: Monkey Action

Dexter: This is Dexter, I've made it to the sneaking point.

Dennis: Good, I see you've arrived Dexter.

Dexter: Yeah, but why do I have to be dragged out from vacation for this?

Dennis: Dexter, come on.

Dexter: All right, but I'm going to say this once and only once…

Dexter: …I am NOT taking out any Metal Gears!

Dennis: Dexter…

Dexter: And no "Saving some VIP or old man!"

Dennis: It's nothing like that!

Dexter: If it's Blossom being a "hot damsel in distress" I'll think about.

Dennis: Well… it's not exactly Blossom being a "hot damsel in distress", but this is still a rescue mission.

Dexter: Rescuing who?

Dennis: Apes

Dexter: …

Dexter: WHAT!

Dennis: Monkeys, but not just any monkeys, these are specially bred monkeys we call the "Funkeys"

Dexter: Again, you said monkeys?

Dennis: Yes

Dexter: You mean you drugged me, carried me out of my vacation, and took me to the middle of nowhere just to save some funky monkeys!

Dennis: I'm sorry, but we needed to make it quick.

Dexter: I can't believe this is all it is, if you wanted your monkeys, you'd be better off asking Spike or Jimmy.

Dennis: Unfortunately, they weren't available.

Dexter: Then why me! I was on vacation!

Dennis: Dexter!

Dexter: Isn't this just some monkey catching action?

Dennis: Dexter, please! I'm asking YOU! It's a request from the Colonel himself!

Dexter: THE Colonel? Meryl's uncle?

Dennis: Yes, it was him who got me the authorization for this mission in the first place.

Dexter: Was he also the guy who sold those cheap anime DVDs?

Dennis: Well, no, that was the Colonel's classmate.

Dexter: His classmate?

Dennis: From high school

Dexter: Huh.

Dennis: And not only that, but the Colonel is a friend of Otto too.

Dexter: He's Otto's friend too?

Dennis: Yes.

Dexter: sigh alright, what are the details?

Dennis: Then you'll do it? Great!

Dexter: I'm not totally against monkey catching anyway. Still, it would have been better if you called Snake or Sly to do the job instead.

Dennis: Let's just get to the objective of the mission. Alright, so the monkeys have retreated into the jungle; you're mission is to infiltrate the jungle and capture all of the monkeys.

Dexter: Got it.

Dennis: When you've captured a monkey, yell out the password, with the password a warp device will activate.

Dexter: Roger, commencing Operation Ape Escape X: Dexter's Dilemma

Dennis now turns around at the headquarters of his operation, with Brick and Blossom sitting nearby, sitting on the "Main Character" and "Leading Lady" chairs.

Brick: It was nice of you to get the Colonel to authorize this mission Dennis, that'll keep Dexter off our backs for quite some time.

Dennis: Don't I know it.

I said getting a cigar and lighting it.

Blossom: And this means Brick and I can finally get some time alone.

Dennis: Indeed

Brick: I owe ya Dennis.

Dennis: Believe me, getting Dexter out of this was rewarding enough.

The End


	8. The Pain

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 8: The Pain

The RowdyRuff Boys had just recently robbed a trade deal with the mafia, it was ingenious in that Boomer used his assortment of smoke grenades to incapacitate them, while Butch went and crushed their AREAS with his heel, and Brick made off with their money.

Doing thief work made them forget their loss with Biarce just yesterday, what with his new gang and all.

And speaking of Biarce…

He and his gang were at his cave dwelling in the woods, it was lunchtime, so Blake got some fish from the nearby creek, and Bart greedily ate them to the cartilage skeleton.

Biarce was not hungry, no, he was far too sad to even be hungry, deciding to calm himself, he decided to head for the beach on the other side of the woods.

Upon reaching the area, sat down on the shore to collect his thoughts…

Flashback…

"ASTAROTH! There is nothing you can do to stop me!" he shouted.

End Flashback…

Just as he was about to think further, he sensed another presence coming towards him. He turned and saw…

_Bell_

It was the girl he had seen at the playground a few days ago, only without her doll.

The girl looked at him, and she smiled a sweet, innocent smile, that, for some reason, triggered something "warm" inside Biarce, the girl approached him, and the more she did, the feeling inside Biarce only intensified…

Until she did an uppercut on his chin, and grabbed his body in mid-air and mega-punched him in the gut, sending him into the sand.

Bell then quickly went to his body, and kicked the sides to see that Biarce has apparently died…

Until she discovered the body was just a phantom that dissipated into thin air, she looked a little surprised finding out it was. She suddenly turned around and saw Biarce dashing towards her, she tried to evade, but Biarce kept on coming, and punched her in the stomach, he then slid to her back and hit her neck, and for a finisher, he tripped her with his legs, and she landed on her back, and with a skirt, she, of course, gave off a (CENSORED) shot.

Biarce then checked his opponent out, even though she came with the intention of killing him, he was quite fascinated by this girl for some reason, and he was, for the first time in his life, disinclined towards actually killing someone, though this was only his second time.

He looked at the girl who had curled up into a fetal position, and a few sobs could be heard under her breath. Biarce looked at her, still fascinated; he then helped her straighten herself up.

She was still crying, Biarce decided to "cheer her up" and he wrapped his arms around her body tightly, swaying around to help her calm down.

Meanwhile…

The PowerPuff Girls were doing their patrols around the city.

All was quiet, until they heard a couple of blood-curdling screams from elsewhere in the city, and it wasn't very pleasant, and went off to investigate.

It was coming from the Townsville Laundromat, as the girls arrived they were about to enter, until a man came out screaming maniacally, with a swarm of hornets infesting his body.

"What the hell?" Buttercup said, and when they turned back to the Laundromat, a swarm of hornets, the largest ever seen, came pouring out of the place. The PowerPuff Girls were crouching down, the hornet swarm bearing down against them.

No matter how much they tried, they kept coming in infinite numbers, Blossom tried her ice breath, it froze some, but they were nearly limitless, and it was the same for Bubbles who tried to use sonic waves, and Buttercup using her fire attacks.

In no time, the city was engulfed in a swarm of hornets, and the RowdyRuff Boys were driven out as well, "What in the hell is going on here?" Brick asked, warding off a swarm, "I dunno, but this is the worst case of infestation I've ever seen!" Boomer shouted, "Hey, there's a pool, let's shake 'em off in there!" Butch suggested, and they flew into the pool, the swarm, unable to swim, hovered dangerously above.

The boys were still hiding in the pool, and then saw the swarm retreating, the boys peeked out of the water to catch a breather.

"I've caught you at last!" suddenly, a voice said in a rather hollow tone, "We are the sons of the Boss!" it shouted again, and this time, the hornets fused together into a man-like shape, and then that man-like shape became a huge, fat man wearing a black mask, with only a single hole from which to peer from, he was wearing an orange vest, and black skin tight suit under it. Despite looking heavy, he was able to perform agile backflips and stand on his hands for as long as he could.

"Who are you!" Brick asked him.

"I am The Pain! And I've come to take you boys into a world of anguish beyond your wildest imaginations!" he exclaimed.

"Were you the one who released these hornets?" Brick asked him again.

"And if I did?"

"You're gonna pay for this mess!" Brick exclaimed.

And all three boys emerged from the pool and rushed for The Pain, however, as soon as they punched him, a cluster of hornets surrounded his body like a shield, and the boys retracted their fingers in pain from The Pain's body, the pain then threw some vials at the boys, and it gave off a particular aroma.

"Uh, what's this smell?" Boomer asked, smelling himself and looking at the moss-green stains on his shirt.

"This is… hornet pheromone!" Brick exclaimed, realizing what it was.

"Everyone! Back in the pool!" Brick shouted when he saw a horde or hornets forming in a drill formation heading straight towards them, driven by the scent of the pheromones, but the boys managed to get back in the pool.

"You won't be able to escape me!" The Pain exclaimed.

"Tommy Gun!"

His hornets then formed a gun shape on his hands, and a Thompson submachine gun appeared as the hornets dispersed, The Pain then took aim and fired a volley at the pool.

Butch was hit in the leg and jumped out of the pool and onto the ground, rolling in pain at the blood on his leg.

"What the? We're supposed to be immune to bullets!" Brick said shocked at Butch's wound.

"How do you like that! My bullets are modified with a special chemical reagent that possesses a negative reaction to your skin, and besides, the alloy is a reworked material redesigned and strengthened to drill into your bodies." Said The Pain.

Brick, knowing how dangerous their new foe was, chose to retreat into an alternate shelter, for now, he needed to think this through if he and his brothers were going to survive.

"Heh, you can't keep running forever." muttered The Pain as he surrounded himself in a shield of hornets, and disappeared as the hornets also dispersed.

"Boomer, get the bullet out and bandage his wound. I need to think for a moment." Brick said, and Boomer got a pair of pliers to dig out the bullet lodged in Butch's body.

Brick needed to assess the situation carefully, "So… we can't even touch him because he uses those hornets as shields, and they really pack a punch too, hmm…" Brick continued to think through any possible method of fighting against The Pain.

Outside of town and the chaos…

Biarce was still trying to comfort Bell, she had stopped crying, but was still unable to say anything. Hopefully she was okay, Biarce never felt like this before, that helping someone felt more "rewarding" then having to kill them.

After a while, Biarce was certain that she had nodded off to sleep, he looked at her, yup, she was asleep, and with a cute smile that ALMOST melted Biarce's heart away, but his cold nature returned back to him, but, unwilling to let the object of his interest stay here "unprotected" he decided to bring her back with him…

Townsville again…

Butch was all patched up, and Brick finally had a plan to defeat The Pain.

Unfortunately, The Pain found them and chased after them yet again, finally, they forced into a confrontation at the city square, where The Pain had landed atop a rooftop with his hornets flying around, ready to protect him.

"Alright, Butch, go into the building and get into the roof, and wait for the signal to come out and beat the stuffing outta that guy." Said Brick.

"But how'll I know the signal?" Butch asked.

"You'll know when you hear it." Brick said.

"Right, leave it to me." Said Butch as he ran for the building.

"What now?" asked Boomer.

"We'll see what this guy is up to." Brick replied.

The Pain summoned his Tommy gun out again and took aim at Boomer and Brick, and started to fire like crazy.

This time, they had to be careful or they could get shot.

A few close calls later, Brick was about to get close to The Pain, and at that moment, The Pain engulfed his body in hornets to protect himself.

"Now Boomer!" Brick shouted.

And Boomer threw one of his grenades at The Pain; of course, he was immune to them as long as his hornets protected him, but the moment the grenade exploded, his hornets couldn't handle the blast and had to scatter.

"My hornets!" The Pain shouted.

That was Butch's cue, and he dashed out of the door leading to the roof, and managed to slag The Pain some of his punishment for the bullet wound, and Butch rejoined the others, while The Pain was reeling from the pain from Butch's blow.

"How do you like THAT!" Butch shouted.

The Pain crouched down on all fours before standing back up, he looked back at his opponents, "Heh" he snorted, and removed his mask, revealing a face distorted by ten thousand hornet stings.

He smiled a sinister smile at the boys, and opened his mouth, releasing another hornet, and another, and another, all were much faster in speed and movement than the other hornets, and they also left a streak of red as they flew.

"Ehahahaha! You will never be able to defeat my Bullet Bees!" The Pain shouted, as he surrounded himself with a swarm of hornets yet again.

The boys now had to fly around wildly in order to avoid the Bullet Bees, which flew around as fast as the boys and chased after them.

"These things are fast." Boomer remarked.

"No kidding." Butch said.

Brick tried avoiding them as fast as he could, but The Pain summoned his Tommy Gun and started shooting again, making it hard to avoid him, and if that wasn't already hard enough, he even had his own set of grenades to use on the boys, which easily got to their targets since his hornets are "carrying" them.

Butch was facing the brunt of the Grenades. While Boomer was trying to dodge the Bullet Bees, and Brick was dodging his Tommy gun and pheromone hornet combo.

"There's no end to these things!" Boomer shouted.

"Guys, let's use the afterburner attack, maybe that'll work!" Brick said, and the boys got back together and started flying in unison, with the hornets, Bullet Bees and flying grenades following suit.

"Alright! Kick in the after burner!" Brick exclaimed and the boys released dark multi-colored smoke that paralyzed their pursuers, allowing them to turn back and attack The Pain.

Unable to see clearly because of the smoke, The Pain couldn't aim his Tommy Gun straight, and couldn't see the RowdyRuff Boys heading straight for him.

Brick dashed out of the smoke and punched him squarely in the gut, this sent him back a great distance, Boomer then arrived next and kicked him hard on the chin, sending him flying into the air, and just when he was about to fall back on his back, Butch came up and elbowed his stomach, sending him down with a large crash, and was sent down through the many floors of the building they were on.

The boys looked down at the building, "I wonder if he made it?" Butch asked.

"Don't even think about it." Brick responded.

Suddenly, the largest, ginormous cloud of hornets emerged from the building and fused to become one huge giant hornet.

(A/N: Kinda like Roach Coach)

"Oh boy, this is gonna take a while." Brick said.

"I'm not finished yet!" Said The Pain as he emerged from the body to ride on the massive hornet's back.

"Ha! The Butch will never back down the challenge!" Butch said courageously, tired of having to run away.

He dashed towards the giant bug, The Pain then shot out a harpoon of hornets from the mouth, and tried to hit Butch, but Butch gave a loud guttural roar that paralyzed the hornets silly, and Butch smashed into the giant hornet and came out the other end.

"Damn you, my hornets will sting you dead!" The Pain shouted towards Butch.

"Not before The Butch stings you!" Butch said.

"Quit talking like me you stupid boy!" The Pain shouted at Butch.

"You're the one who's talking like me!" Butch exclaimed.

And then the two combatants dashed at each other, it was the aerial battle of a lifetime, The Pain summoned another batch of hornets to attack Butch was sent flying out, one to the left and another to the bottom, butch punched to horde coming from the right, and dodged the bottom one easily, The Pain then threw more pheromones which plastered all over his body, and the giant hornet dashed towards him.

Butch flew as fast as he could to a nearby water source to get the pheromones out of his clothes and skin, which he did, and successfully got the pheromones out of his clothes, but The Pain used his Giant bug and created a tornado that pulled out and drained the water out of the pool, Butch was cornered again.

But got out before The Pain flooded the empty pool with his hornets, Butch looked down at him and his giant pet, "Ha! You're gonna need more than a couple of bugs to beat The Butch-inator."

The Pain got back up and hovered in front of Butch a couple of meters off, both competitors looked at each other with stern faces.

Then The Pain shot out 3 of his Bullet Bees from his mouth, and they started to pursue Butch.

"That's it, just a little more." Said Butch, letting the bees chase him.

Then he flew for the front of The Pain, seeing this, The Pain launched more hornets, and Butch was surrounded: hornets at his twelve, and Bullet Bees at his six.

But just when he was about to collide, he changed direction and the bullet bees drilled through the horde of normal hornets, and they struck The Pain, quite "painfully" I might add.

And his giant hornet dispersed as he fell to the ground from that skyline height.

"We gotta help him!" Brick said.

"Why?" Butch asked.

"Let's just say a bit of Blossom's superhero persona is starting to rub off on me, and besides, we need to know why he's attacking us." Brick explained. Neither of his brothers objected.

"Fine by me." Said Boomer.

"Ditto" Said Butch.

And they went after The Pain and tried to save him.

"You ain't got no smack on me." He muttered.

"Wha-?" But as soon as Brick and his bros reached The Pain, the fat guy pulled out a device with a button and pressed it, causing him to self-destruct…

Next Day…

Bart and Blake didn't mind girls enough to hurt them, so they didn't object Biarce bringing Bell to their hideaway.

It was already the early hours of the morning, Biarce had just woken up, he looked around, and saw Blake resting on the cave wall, still sleeping, and Bart lazily snoring in his sleep, with bubbles forming on his nose.

Biarce looked around, but Bell was gone, he bent his head down to sleep some more, until he saw a little stone with the words "Thank you" in white lying in front of him. He smiled, and went back to sleep.

A couple that just found themselves, looks like a nice beginning…

Brick woke up as well, and to his surprise was in a hospital bed wrapped in bandages, no wonder The Pain is called The Pain.

"Awake already?"

And Brick was even more surprised to find Blossom at his side; another close encounter, his luck must be changing for the better.

"How long have you been there?" Brick asked.

"When we had to drag your lugs of bodies to the hospital." Blossom replied coldly

"So… you were helping us, huh? Ha!" Brick replied.

"I'm guessing this means you like me after-" but before he could finish, Blossom interrupted him.

"Don't start." She said.

"Whatever." Brick replied coolly.

Still dysfunctional, but still a relationship…

Bubbles was sitting by Boomer's hospital bed, with the blonde boy looking out the window with a contented face.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Bubbles asked him.

"I've been through worse." Boomer replied, still looking at the clouds outside with a pleasant face.

"Hey, I brought some snacks, want some?" She asked taking out a bag of treats.

"Sure." Boomer replied.

A perfect couple makes the perfect picture, no?

"Butch! Calm Down!" Buttercup shouted.

"NO! I can't be in this bed! My strength is needed elsewhere!" Butch shouted as Buttercup continued to restrain him.

"BUTCH!" She shouted, and Butch finally stopped struggling.

"sigh, To think I'd have to end up on a hospital bed, this is so not happening." Butch said as he closed his eyes.

"Well, it's happening now, and there isn't much you can do either." Said Buttercup, This made Butch drop his spirits, and he sank further down in agitation.

"Oh, come on! There has to be something good about this!" Buttercup exclaimed holding her hands up.

"Well, there is one thing…" Butch said.

"What?" Buttercup asked.

"Could you turn on the TV and put it on channel ten?" He said, and Buttercup turned the TV on.

_Gan gan gi gin Gingaman!  
Gan gan gi gin Gingaman!  
Ginga o tsuranuku densetsu no yaiba  
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman!_

"What's this?" Buttercup asked.

"The TV company decided the air a dubbed version of Seijuu Sentai Gingaman from Japan, lucky for me, they retained most of the original content, including the original intro song." Butch said.

"Hmm… you really like this stuff don't you?" Buttercup asked.

"Yup, Japan is just so interesting. And who knows, maybe they'll make a show about your adventures." He spoke to Buttercup.

"Yeah, like that'll happen." Buttercup replied.

"But anyway, what do you intend to do after you get out?" Buttercup asked again, although she knew what was coming.

"What do I intend to do? Well, isn't it obvious? I am so gonna finish our game and finally beat you!" He said to Buttercup.

"Hah! Like you could ever beat me! Never have and never will!" She exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Just you wait, I'll become the Great Butch once again! But right now- I need some sleep." He concluded tiredly before plopping off to sleep.

Still a rivalry, but at least they were friends…

Daemon Bastion…

Bloodshot was walking along long hallways before arriving at the building's Inner Sanctum, where Barbatos was sitting on his throne.

"Barbatos, The Pain has fallen in battle…" He said to the Demon, as he threw The Pain's Tommy gun in front of Barbatos.

"I suspected as much. But his loss was not totally a waste." He said as he pulled out a disc on his hand.

"This disc contains the battle data of the Rowdyruff Boys and their fight against The Pain." He said.

"What would we need that for?" Bloodshot asked.

"To quote Prince: We learn from what we see with our eyes, unquote, that boy's mind is more cunning than anyone else in the Guild, and he has not let us down at all ever since he joined us." Barbatos said.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Bloodshot replied, with no emotion pouring along with his words.

Elsewhere…

Prince was sitting down in the living room of the Morbucks mansion, sipping tea and watching the scenery outside the mansion, "I wonder…"

With that, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in a forest grove, beautiful than any other scene he had ever laid eyes on.

"So… You've arrived." Said a voice behind him.

Prince turned and saw a young boy of about his age approach him.

"You… heh, I wondered what happened to you." Prince said sarcastically.

"Not me, I knew where you were the whole time, and don't think I don't know your old tricks either." He said towards Prince.

"I see… from the looks on your eyes… I'd say you've sharpened." Prince said.

"It took me a while, but I was able to master everything my _predecessor_ taught me." Said Blader.

"Well then… It will be an interesting encounter when we next meet, Blader…" With those words, Prince closed his eyes, and was back at the mansion.

He giggled lightly as he continued to look at the scenery outside…

End of Chapter.

A/N: Sorry, no jokes for now, I'm stumped of any funny ideas for now.


	9. Moonlight

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 9: Moonlight

Brick was still in the hospital bed, it was nighttime, so Blossom left back to her house.

As Brick was going to sleep, he found himself once again in the forest grove.

"Assistance is probably what you'll need for this battle" said Blader, who appeared behind him.

"You… what do you want from me?" asked Brick.

"I need your help; you will be this world's only hope of survival, for if _she_ is to awaken, it will be all over." Blader responded.

"I… don't understand" said Brick.

"You need not fret, just trust time to reveal all things, for now, you will need allies for this endeavor" said Blader.

"Allies?" asked Brick.

"Yes, I know one such person" then Blader pulled out a little black amulet with an onyx embedded in the center, "Show this to him, and he will know what to do."

Brick looked at it, "But how will I know…" but before he could ask he was awake and back at the hospital bed again, and it was still nighttime.

Although, he looked at himself and saw that he was fully dressed, and healed of injuries.

He stood up and went to the door, there, he saw his brothers, also fully dressed and healed of injuries, standing there waiting for him.

"You guys okay?" asked Brick.

"Yeah, but Butch and I had this really freaky dream" said Boomer.

"uh-huh, we were in this forest place, and then this guy started talking nonsense to us, and then I didn't know what the heck was he talking about" responded Butch.

Brick was shocked by this, did Blader visit them too?

But before he could gather his thoughts, they heard some loud noises from another part of town with their super hearing, and went off to see what was going on.

Outside…

Buttercup was fighting against Bart, and she was getting one Hell of a beat down from the Crimson Ruff.

"Gah! You're strong!" Buttercup commented on her opponent.

"Yeah, but that ain't nearly enough for what I'm about to do next" said Bart, and dashed towards Buttercup.

Buttercup stood up fast enough to stop Bart's attack, and then she punched him in the face, and then elbowed his abdomen, she then grabbed Bart's collar and launched him into the air, and flew up to administer an energy attack sending him flying down with a large crash.

Bubbles was fighting against Blake, who grabbed her pigtails and started to swing her around, followed by a toss towards a nearby wall, causing it to fall on her.

Blake checked to see the rubble, and then he kicked it lightly, checking to see if Bubbles was dead…

Suddenly, Bubbles shot out from the rubble, and shot a couple of energy shots at Blake, who was sent flying back, she followed with a kick to his stomach, and another kick at his left temple, and as he was suspended sideways in the air, Bubbles put her hand on his chest, and sent a burst through his body, and Blake was sent rolling on the ground unconscious.

As for Blossom, she was fighting against Biarce, "You barely even put up a fight" Biarce said towards Blossom, who was reeling from his attack just earlier.

"We'll see!" exclaimed Blossom.

She then breathed in some air, and unleashed her ice breath at Biarce, who become frozen in place.

She immediately dashed towards Biarce.

But Biarce freed himself from his ice prison, "Weak" he said before attacking Blossom in a flurry of punches.

Then he grabbed her long hair and started to spin her around wildly, and then he slammed her into a wall, but grabbed her again, this time punching her gut and sending her head painfully hitting a fire hydrant.

"This is not satisfying, Bart, Blake!" shouted Biarce, and Bart and Blake shot up from their unconsciousness; they then grabbed their respective opponents and threw them forcefully at the area near Blossom's landing point.

"We've got nothing against you guys, but you could have at least put up something better than this." He said bored.

Then he held his hands up, and so did the Thunder Ruff Boys, then they charged it up with their most powerful attacks, and then they shot it at the girls…

"_Is this it? Are we finished?"_ thought Blossom.

Just then, three figures stood in front of them, and combined their own attacks to form a large energy blast that counter-acted against the one from Biarce and the Thunder Ruffs.

"What?" muttered Blossom.

"Stay put, we'll handle this" said Brick.

"You again, well, I hope you'll prove to be more 'entertaining' than they were" Biarce said towards the Rowdy Ruff Boys.

"You can count on it" said Butch.

Biarce, the Thunder Ruffs, and the Rowdy Ruffs prepared for Round 2.

Boomer dashed for Blake and tried threw a swing at his left, then right, lower sides and at his chest, and the Azure Ruff easily blocked them all, he then counterattacked, but Boomer also dodged these as well.

Butch and Bart were going about a little exchange of firepower, flinging bolts of energy at each other relentlessly.

Bart fired one of his larger bolt attacks, but Butch used the awesome power of his guttural roar to stop the beam in its tracks, and then went up at close range to fight at each other in a ruthless melee.

Brick was, being the leader, duking it out with Biarce and settling it between each other.

Brick tried to jab Biarce at the sides but Biarce either blocked his strikes or simply dodged them with precise dexterity.

Brick then jumped back and charging his fist with energy, ran towards Biarce with it.

Biarce grabbed his fist just before impact and absorbed the blast without even breaking a sweat.

But as the dust cleared, Brick was about to hit his head with a kick, but Biarce bent back to avoid the blow, and tried to hit Brick.

"Gotcha this time!" but Brick ducked to avoid his blow and using both his hands, fired an energy shot at his chest that sent Biarce flying back.

The two combatants then stood silent for a moment, and then Biarce started to laugh like a maniac.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Brick.

"Oh, nothing, it's just, that was the first time anyone has ever hit me before" said Biarce, for whenever someone was indeed going to actually hit him, he would always put a phantom decoy in his place, this was the first time he actually didn't do so, either he was starting to get soft, or he wants to stop playing dirty just to have a good fight.

Whatever the case, Biarce was simply overjoyed for some reason.

But then he immediately put up a serious face, "All right, time to set this straight!" Biarce exclaimed.

Biarce dashed for Brick and Brick tried to defend, but Biarce used a false move for Brick to defend the wrong area and attacked his gut, while Brick's arms were defending his face.

Blake went for some good old-fashioned CQC and grabbed Boomer's arm as soon as he threw a punch, then he hit his abdomen and hit his face, near the eyes too, and paralyzed Boomer, then he grabbed his shoulder and using Boomer's knee as support, jumped to his back where he kicked his spine real hard, sending him flying into the dirt face-first.

As for Butch, he and Bart were still tossing shots at each other, but Butch was combining his blasts with his roar blast, and Bart has had his hands full.

But Bart was also simply holding back so he could have fun too.

Having enough, Bart also went on the offensive and started firing of more and more shots, using the power from the nearby cables and household appliances to fuel his onslaught, and even Butch couldn't keep up for very long, at least not before being zapped and sent flying towards the area where Boomer was lying.

As for Brick, Biarce caught him by the collar and struck his fist at Brick's face, then he started to twirl him around while holding his hair, then he hit him in the abdomen which ripped open a hole at the other end of his clothes, followed by a shockwave that sent him flying towards the area near Boomer and Butch.

"You're all worthless" Biarce muttered, and then he looked at Brick…

"Hmm… something's different about you" said Biarce, looking at Brick with a curious look.

"You bet there is!" said Brick, and suddenly, he disappeared!

"What!" exclaimed Biarce; the Brick he had beaten was a phantom decoy! But how? Only Biarce knows that technique.

Suddenly, Brick came up to Biarce's rear, Biarce tried to counterattack, but Brick was too fast and Biarce was sent flying towards a wall with a crash.

"Whoa, dude, how did you do that?" asked Boomer, surprised and in awe.

"I… have no idea" replied Brick.

Suddenly, A loud explosion came from the building that Biarce was thrown into, and out came Biarce, with a very cold, emotionless face, "Uncanny… how very surreal, you're the first person I've ever met that can actually hit me twice in the same battle, I must say that's a record." He said in a monotone.

"But I won't let you expand that record any longer" said Biarce.

"Yeah well, now that I can actually prove to be a challenge, I'm guessing I ain't holding back no more, right?" asked Brick.

"Exactly, but just to be fair, I'll let you take the next broadside" said Biarce.

"You're gonna regret this buddy!" exclaimed Brick, and he dashed towards Biarce with his fist raised and ready.

"Bad move, he who moves first, loses…" said Biarce in a monotone.

Suddenly, something grabbed unto Brick's left shoulder, and blood started to drip from it, everyone was shocked, except the Thunder Ruffs, who seemed to think this was natural.

And the thing that grabbed onto Brick's shoulder was rather ghostly: it was a large black cobra head, biting so fiercely into Brick's shoulder blood dripped out, the creature loosened its grip after a few seconds and it was revealed where it came from: it's end tail was coiled around Biarce's arms, with the Black Ruff producing a smirk on his lips.

"Without the power of a Mental, you are no match for me, even if you have now mastered the phantom decoy power!" said Biarce, then, a second black cobra appeared on his other arm, and he struck a fighting position with the cobras rearing up dangerously at Brick, poised to attack at any given moment.

"You were a good fighter, but do you have any last words before I properly dispose of you?" asked Biarce.

"I really didn't want it to end this way…" muttered Brick.

"Not very classy, but it'll have to do" said Biarce, and he dashed towards Brick.

Brick then winced for a moment, then something fell out of the pocket of his shirt, it was the onyx amulet, "The amulet…" said Brick, looking at the object for a few seconds. Suddenly, he remembered that Biarce was still after him, and he looked up in time to see that Biarce had stopped, with a shocked appearance on his face, but his cobras were still poised to attack.

Brick saw that Biarce was fixated on the amulet, suddenly, one of the cobras extended forward and grabbed the amulet for him, and then, when the amulet was on his hands, he examined with a shocked expression on his face.

"It can't be, this is not possible, it was lost… I… I… I saw it!" he said stuttering in shock at it. Then, he grabbed his head and started to scream in agony, and then he immediately flew up high into the sky, and dashed for parts unknown.

Everyone stood shocked for several hours, except for the Thunder Ruffs who flew up and tried to follow where Biarce was going.

"What was that about?" asked Brick.

Meanwhile…

"So, he has finally been exposed, it will take him a while to gather his thoughts, but it shall be all worth it" said Blader, looking at Biarce's image flying through the night sky, illuminated by the moonlight, in his mystic pond.

End of Chapter

Joke of the moment: Stupid Crush

Brick was talking to Blossom just a few moments ago, but we'll just fast forward for what happened after that.

(A/N: They still hate each other here)

"Darn, it's raining, and this dress was also new too…" said Blossom with a sigh.

Brick then placed his cap on Blossom's head. "I'll give it to you, but next time I see you, you'd better give it back" he said a little coldly.

Brick then flew away as fast as he could.

Blossom looked up at him, "Gee, Brick and I sure matured over the years."

Flashback…

"HA! You're an UGLY Pug-faced BITCH! You hear me! A Bitch!" shouted Brick when they were much younger.

"Shut up you pig-breathed, fuck-toothed piece of shit!" Blossom shouted back.

End Flashback…

_THUMP, THUMP, THUMP…_

Blossom noticed her heart was beating for Brick, "Oh my God…"

"What's she yelling for now? Didn't I do something nice?" said Brick.

"BRICK, You FUCKING IDIOT! You made me have a crush on you!" Blossom shouted.

(A/N: This was the first time I wrote the F word with no censorship whatsoever on it. If anyone was offended, I apologize. By the way, this Joke is based on a mini-comic I found at DeviantArt, so it's not too good, but I captured the moment just enough, right?)


	10. Insane Rage

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies; also, I do not own Bellatrix! Blossom does! Or maybe my good friend, Secret Murderer, I dunno, you decide. Oh yeah, and SM (Your pen name was too long, sorry) don't kill me if she's a little OOC, I tried my best, but I need more info.

Episode 10: Insane Rage

Blossom was at her school as usual, although now they were slightly older and attended elementary.

Yet, she couldn't concentrate, after the battle with Biarce, which left everyone in shock, the Rowdyruff Boys were quick to make their escape, without leaving a trace, and now, a week had gone by since then, and the boys mysteriously disappeared from Townsville.

It was her chance, and Brick managed to slither past her yet again, she sighed as she looked at the infinite blue sky…

The Astral Plane…

Bellatrix was watching her good friend sit through another boring session in her class, but she had more pressing matters to address, most importantly, Biarce's sudden appearance and disappearance, she could sense that Biarce was an extremely powerful opponent, for so far, neither the Power Puff Girls nor the Rowdy Ruff Boys have been able to defeat him.

"Biarce is an extremely powerful opponent, but his skills and powers could have only been gained through years of intense training and a lifetime of battle, which is, theoretically, impossible" said Bella as she watched and replayed all of the battles fought against Biarce so far.

Suddenly, she sensed a powerful, yet benevolent, presence enter her realm, she turned and saw a swirl of lightning and blue vapor materialize into her crystal forest, a small opening into another realm had opened, and out emerged a young lad, clad in black baggy long-pants with a purple trench coat lined with black accents appeared, Bellatrix recognized this person: it was her old friend Blader, who, one of many rare, if not, unlikely occasions, helped her on a few of her more extreme favors, where outside help was often necessitated so as to avoid any extreme accidents.

"Blader… what brings you all the way here?" asked Bellatrix.

"Well, Bellatrix, I've come for a very serious favor I need to ask of you" replied Blader with a smile.

"A favor? Well, that's a surprise, because I'd usually ask a favor from you" said Bellatrix.

"Yeah, I know" and Blader laughed heartily for a while, until he stopped and put up a serious face.

"It appears that _she_ has decided to make one big comeback" said Blader in a slightly serious tone.

"_SHE_? That bitch is gonna comeback? But you…"

"There's no denying it, and as for that favor, I want you to keep the Power Puff Girls 'under protection' 'cause they may have a part to play in this whole affair, a large one at that, and I recommend you also keep them 'ill-informed' in this too" said Blader.

"And how, pray-tell, am I suppose to protect them, without letting them know?" asked Bellatrix.

Blader than tossed her his Ziz Blade, "Use your imagination" said Blader with a smile, he then turned and was about to leave, but he stopped and turned to see Bellatrix one more time.

"By the way, I recommend you keep that White One under careful watch" said Blader.

"You mean Biarce's love interest?" asked Bellatrix.

"Yes, she possesses something which could possibly be the biggest thing that will happen" said Blader.

"And you, what will you do?" asked Bellatrix.

"The boys will be the first to know, and I need to help them in my next endeavor, besides, 'The Boss' will be wanting to get rid of them first, and they need someone who knows The Boss from a personal perspective to protect them, and besides, I also think I know where Bragel could be" said Blader.

"Your old mentor?" said Bellatrix.

"Yes, it's time the old boys got back to action" said Blader, as he walked off into the portal from whence he came.

"Indeed they do" remarked Bellatrix. She then turned to watching Blossom again.

It turns out Blossom's classes had finished and was now on her way home.

Townsville…

Bubbles was drawing Boomer at the Power Puff Bedroom, Buttercup was outside playing with her football, Blossom was tired, she was thinking of Brick too much, or rather, how to catch him, mind you.

Thinking too much was bad for her head, so she fell asleep on the living room couch.

The Astral Plane…

Blossom woke up to find herself in her good friend, Bellatrix's, crystal forest.

"Hello Blossom" said a voice nearby, it was Bellatrix.

"Bella, what are you here for?" asked Blossom.

"I came… to warn you about something" said Bellatrix.

"What about?" asked Blossom.

"Well, something dangerous is going on in the world, and… I really want you to be a little more… alert than usual" said Bellatrix.

"Hey, with all the goings on, I'd better be" said Blossom.

"Anyway, I recommend you keep away from that rascal, the Black Ruff, from all appearances, I seriously doubt I'd want to have the pleasure of meeting him" said Bellatrix.

"You mean Biarce? Well, you're lucky you'll never have to meet him" said Blossom.

"Yes well… not yet anyway" said Bellatrix.

"What do you mean, not yet?" asked Blossom.

"It's… no, it's nothing, you should be up now" said Bellatrix as Blossom woke up from the couch. "What was that about, it's not like her to be so slipshod" remarked Blossom.

Daemon Bastion…

"Bloodshot, we need to get rid of those Power Puff brats, why don't you send Kurei to go and deal with them?" said Prince.

"Of course, Prince, but whatever for?" asked Bloodshot.

"Oh come now!" snapped Prince impatiently, "I don't need another problem when all this passes by, it's bad enough we lost The Pain!" exclaimed Prince.

Bloodshot bowed and went to fetch Kurei.

Meanwhile, Prince was leaning against the walls of the Bastion's long hallways.

"You may remember my old tricks, Blader, but like you, I can easily see through yours as well" said Prince, with a mocking smile on his lips.

Townsville…

Blossom was out for her usual patrol around the city, Buttercup and Bubbles decided to stay at home for the meantime.

She went to the park, and looked at her reflection on a puddle of water. She then recalled Mojo's mean joke to wet their bed and make them think they had an ACCIDENT.

(A/N: ACCIDENT- Keyword!)

She sat down on one of the benches, tired and exhausted, she needed to take a breather, after all, ever since the Black Ruff appeared, this was one of those rare moments of rest and relaxation.

But it was not to be…

Blossom immediately heard the sound of screams and the crackling of fire across the distance, and she immediately went to investigate.

Across the distance, a pale-skinned man with long red robes, and a white ceramic mask: Kurei, was devastating Townsville using purple, ghost flames generated from a series of wrist-rings on his left arm.

"Burn! All of this must burn!" he chanted insanely.

Blossom got to the location of where the fires were coming from.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" shouted Blossom towards the mysterious pyromaniac.

Kurei turned his attention towards Blossom. "No, NO! You can't be here!" Suddenly, he raised his hand towards her, and hurled a volley of his spirit fire at her.

Luckily, Blossom easily dodged it, "Are you insane!" Blossom shouted, as she saw that Kurei had set fire to a local convenience store, a pharmacy, and an apartment.

Kurei then ignited with his fire engulfing his body, and slowly walked towards Blossom, "I am Kurei!" he said, "The flames of my rage will incinerate you!" he paused, then continued "I came back from Hell, and as I returned, I had one vision: The world set ablaze! And do you know what I saw there?" he paused again, and set fire to all the buildings parallel to the street they were on, "Fury. A great and terrible fury at being alive! Now, you too will suffer the same horrible heat from that scorching hot blackness!"

Then, a phoenix-like shape made of spirit fire emerged from behind him. And he launched it at Blossom, who easily dodged it, but it turned and continued to charge for her, in order to stop it, Blossom breathed in heavily, and unleashed the largest mist of ice breath ever seen. Fortunately, it was enough to freeze the phoenix solid, but then it dissolved into mist as the intense heat of the phoenix, started to melt itself and its ice encasing.

The heavy mist clouded her vision, and she could barely see a thing. Suddenly, Kurei's spirit fires appeared, and sparks of them surrounded her everywhere. Suddenly, a fast haze of red passed her, and she fell to the ground unbalanced, she was about to get up, until another haze swept her by, another still, and another still, until she could stand no more.

"Even when my flames will not be the ones too burn your flesh, my rage is still hotter than all the fires of Tartarus!" he said in a rage that sounded completely moronic. Even though Blossom knew this guy was a wacko, he was incredibly strong, not to mention fast.

Blossom slowly stood up, closing her eyes, and listened intently to the sounds of the crackling spirit fires. Until she could make out the sound of the wind changing abnormally.

She continued to wait, until she heard the wind directed towards her, about, to the left.

Blossom then unleashed a bolt of her pink energy at Kurei, sending him flying and crashing into a wall.

It was at this moment that the spirit fires dispersed and the mist was cleared, giving her a look of all the mayhem, everything was still on fire, and Kurei had been buried under some rubble. Suddenly, the rubble ignited with his spirit fire again.

"What the-!" but before Blossom could react, she was being beaten down by piping hot fire emitted from the rubble.

"ANGER IS ETERNAL! NO ONE CAN STOP MY FIRES OF RAGE!" Kurei shouted as he exploded out of the rubble.

"Darn, this guy is incredible!" thought Blossom as she flew out of the fires range.

"Hmm… maybe I'll try a more speed-based approach" thought Blossom, seeing that she needed to outrun Kurei and land a hit at his vital vulnerabilities.

Blossom went out into the open again, and dashed for Kurei. "So, you wanna feel what Hell is really like!" Kurei shouted.

"I don't want the pleasure!" said Blossom, and changed direction as she dodged Kurei's blast. Kurei tried to hit her again, but Blossom rebounded the wall, and Kurei tried another time, but Blossom still managed to kick off another wall and hit him with her strongest punch, followed by a kick, and an elbow blow that sent him making a crater in the middle of the street.

Blossom thought it was over, but Kurei burst out yet again!

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! YOU WILL NEVER STOP MY FURY!" he shouted insanely before unleashing his massive phoenix again.

Blossom looked at it for a while, until she got fed up, and just punched the phoenix as it charged her with all the strength she could absorb, and the phoenix changed it's course and slammed into Kurei instead.

"WWWHHHHHAAAATTTT! AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!" he shouted as he got consumed by his own fire.

When the explosion finally died, Kurei could be seen still standing, but struggling on his feet, and his clothes were almost burned, "Boss, this is the end for me… I'm off, to join the Pain" he said before crouching down on his knees.

Suddenly, the fires set on the buildings and surrounding backgrounds flew and were sucked into Kurei's body, Kurei let out a scream before saying "Behold! The Flames of Fury! The fires of Hell shall purge me clean!"

All the fires that engulfed Townsville earlier were extinguished, and returned into Kurei's body. Kurei staggered back to his feet, and looked up into the sky, "I see it! I see it all, it burns, IT BURNS!" suddenly, he fell on his back, and exploded, but not before leaving two angry fire spirits to pursue Blossom.

One of them had Kurei's unmasked face with the fire, the other, was in the form of his ceramic mask.

One flew around and circled around Blossom, then it slammed into a nearby building and some rubble was about to fall on Blossom's head, but she dodged it. The next one, the mask spirit, was going to hit her head-on, and Blossom couldn't react in time.

"FURY!" It shouted, before hitting Blossom and causing an explosion.

Later…

Blossom found herself on a hospital bed. "What happened?"

"You're in the hospital after taking a serious beatdown" said a voice, it was the Professor.

"Oww… he must have been that tough, huh?" asked Blossom.

"Yeah, but you totally kicked his butt good!" said Buttercup, who was nearby.

"I sure did…" said Blossom, who examined the room and realized it was Brick's hospital bedroom.

Elsewhere…

"Well, that was a close one" said Bellatrix.

"Too close for comfort" said Blader, who was nearby.

"By the way, I checked on your White Puff" said Bellatrix.

"And…?" asked Blader.

"There's something… unnatural about her, I can smell it."

"Well, keep her under check, who knows what the Daemon Guild might see in her."

"Are you sure you're telling me everything?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not"

End of Chapter


	11. Origins pt I

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 11: Origins pt. 1

Biarce was in a cold, unforgiving environment, obviously, since he is on Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, and at its peak too.

But the harsh, cruel, bone-cutting cold did little to even make him shiver, for a great flame had ignited inside, a flame called his past…

He looked at the amulet on his hands, a reminder of the terrible deeds he had forsaken, a reminder, of the irreparable damage by his own hands.

Yes, he thought that he had finally buried his past, but it looks like they would ultimately never leave him, never, even after all these years…

Yes, he remembered it all, a web of unforgivable events that made him what he is today…

Yes, he had not forgotten…

Flashback…

3000 years ago…

"Foul beasts! I will send you back to the depths of the underworld!"

It was somewhere near the Persian Gulf, a merchant fleet had run aground against some rocks, and were suddenly attacked, with the frantic and frightened crew members screaming about "Dead men walking" and "Vile serpents of the seas."

True enough; an army of strange, undead soldiers had boarded the stranded ships, killing all of those who were still alive left on them.

A tall, young man with white skin and wearing an ancient Persian royalty tunic with scale-like plate armor was fighting against the undead; this was the Biarce of the past.

He was using a pair of ghost like snakes wrapped around his arms as weapons, flailing them around like whips, whenever he got the chance, he even grabbed a zombie soldier, and punched it's chest three times before stabbing it multiple times on the ground with his serpent weapon's fangs, despite being terribly frightening, the undead were nothing but sword fodder to the white-skinned warrior.

After clearing off the undead up the ship's deck, Biarce opened up a hatch and into the holds, where the crew quarters and storage for supplies was (previously) kept, damaged and broken with water pouring in.

Biarce was heading into the rear end of the ship, but as soon as he was about to get to the other side, suddenly, from out of the top of the deck, a large, serpentine, gargantuan sea dragon burst from the ceiling and his head stuck out from the top into the holds. Looks as though Biarce will need to deal with this head problem first, but he obviously didn't wanna waste time. Biarce was only about a couple of feet away from the creature, but the sea dragon charged in, trying to reach for him, but Biarce just punched the sea dragon, stunning it in the process, and while it was out cold, Biarce stabbed its forehead with one of his serpent fangs, causing it to buck violently and hitting the side of the hull, but Biarce managed to avoid getting hit, the sea dragon, now on the other side of the hull, tried to slam into Biarce, but the latter dodged it easily, using his ghost snakes to grab onto the sea dragon's head and slam it into the other direction, then the sea dragon backed up and tried to chomp Biarce, but the latter used his ghost serpent's fangs to hook himself and attach onto to ceiling, the sea dragon backed up and tried to bite him again, but Biarce got back down fast enough, and the unfortunate sea dragon got jammed into the deck, Biarce then hooked the serpent fangs on his lower jaw and slammed the creature into the floor of the hull and then again into the left side.

The head lay unconscious, but Biarce jammed the serpent fangs into its lidless eyes, and the sea dragon bucked even more violently as it finally died.

Biarce continued on his way, and looked out from a large hole at the back of the hull, and could see the rest of the fleet be attacked by a horde of sea dragons.

Then he turned to a another hole, where another ship had collided with this one, and walked on a few planks that had fallen off and made a small walkway, but just beyond that was a man trapped behind some metal bars which caged him, Biarce tried to get him out, but the man just backed away and shouted towards him "I know who you are warrior! I know what you've done! I would rather die than be saved by you!" but in Biarce's mind, he had no intention to save him, since he already had enough trouble dealing with his own objective.

Biarce continued through another hole at the side of the next ship and was about to head into the door on the other end of a zigzagging hallway until he heard a loud shriek and the roar of a sea dragon, followed by the clanging sound of metal, looks like the guy deserved it, considering that he was very rude, and turned down help.

As soon as he got to the door, he kicked it open and came to the deck of the next ship, and it was even worse here; a large murder of ravens started to attack and rip the crewmen to shreds on the deck.

(A/N: A "murder" is a flock of ravens)

Biarce stepped onto the deck, and when the ravens got close, he simply shoved them away, and just when things couldn't get any worse, another sea dragon (A/N: possibly the one that killed the caged dude) and started attacking the ravens and crewmen as well, when it spotted Biarce, it managed to actually trap him in the mouth, most likely due to a more maneuverable position for its head, but Biarce slowly opened the jaw from the inside, once free, he gripped both ends with his ghost snakes, and then twisted it and breaking his jaw, forcing the sea dragon back into the water, as it receded, Biarce jumped into the hole, since the door to get to the other side was busted and became impassable, as he swam, he climbed up a fishnet and got up to the front deck, where he was assaulted by more undead, which really proved no challenge, Biarce also saw that the ship's front mast had fallen and landed on a rock on the other end, beyond that was another mast that had fallen and led to the next ship.

Biarce had to carefully balance himself walking on the fallen mast, he was also very close to the rocks as well, where a group of crewmen were holding back a sea dragon, no doubt they won't hold on much longer.

As soon as he got to the other ship, one of the crewmen saw him and turned to him.

"I-It's you! The visions, they were real! Our goddess had told us that her champion would come and rescue us from the sea dragon horde. But you're too late!"

And the man pointed to a group of undead archers bearing down against the crewmen on deck.

"These creatures, they came from nowhere and slaughtered the crew!"

Then he grabbed Biarce by the shoulders, "All hope is lost, warrior! Even for- ugh!" but those were his last words as an arrow pierced his throat.

Biarce went to the lower deck and, in an act of heartless self-defense, used the surviving crew members who were ducked behind some crates as a meat shield to protect himself against the arrows.

He then climbed up another fishnet and onto the upper deck, where one by one, he picked off the undead archers by, literally, breaking them in half. He then went through another hallway and through a zigzagging corridor to another door at the rear end of the ship, where he found a door which was locked.

"I'll have to find the captain, he might have the key" thought Biarce.

He then climbed up a ladder to the mast, but before he could, he heard screams.

"Let us out! Let us out! They're coming for us! Help! HELP! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

It was also the sound of a woman scream, but although Biarce heard it, he couldn't do anything right now.

He climbed up another group of nets to get to the top mast, but groups of undead were climbing down after him, but Biarce grabbed them and threw them down into the bottom of the ship where they broke into pieces, lots of pieces.

As soon as he got to the top, Biarce slid down a rope to get quite a great distance to the next ship. The doors were barred with planks, but Biarce slammed them open and got passage inside. Once there, the next door was open, but a barrier of blue divine energy was blocking his path, but he knew what this mean; as he approached, the visage of a deity appeared before him.

"Lord Oceanus" greeted Biarce.

"Biarce, you're skills as an exceptional warrior is invaluable to the Pantheon, but before you can progress, there is a task you must complete. These beasts, the sea dragons, they have terrorized my oceans for far too long, you're talents and skills as a warrior are admirable, but you will need assistance, you will need the power of the Pantheon. Take this power Biarce, take my power, and use it to defeat you're enemies."

Biarce was suddenly surrounded by undead warriors, but with his new power, he slammed his right hand into the ground, the floor became ice, and a vale of spikes emerged from it to impale the undead.

"Go with the gods, Biarce, go forth, in the name of the Pantheon…" said Oceanus as his image faded and the path became clear, Biarce continued through the passageway until he emerged through another hole at the side of the ship, where he was now standing on some on a stone plateau where the ship got stranded.

He climbed up more fishnets and ended up where the captain was, along with his fellow crewman left on the ship, fighting against another sea dragon with a paddle.

"There's no end to these things!" shouted the captain.

Then, his last shipmate was devoured by the sea dragon, at which point, the captain snapped.

"We're doomed! We're doomed! We're all going to DIE!" he shouted.

But then, it was also the same moment the largest sea dragon, the leader of the sea dragon horde, emerged, he was perhaps the nastiest of them as well, with a row of unclean, dirty, broken teeth mixed with extremely sharp ones, the captain fell to his knees in despair.

"Goddess, please, save me…" he muttered before getting swallowed by the monster.

Biarce cursed under his breath, he had to get that key!

Another sea dragon had emerged from the hull, but Biarce decided to finish this once and for all, and climbed up some rope nets to get to the mast, where the sea dragon was preparing to duel him, but the other sea dragons unleashed a powerful breath attack that made Biarce lose his grip and fall back down, it looks like he'll have to deal with these two first, he looked up, and to his luck, were two large whale harpoons just above each one, that would keep these guys busy.

Biarce used Oceanus' power to hold them in place, then he climbed up some crates, and taking out a dagger, cut the rope that held the harpoon and impaled the sea dragons, no more interruption now.

It was just Biarce and the Sea Dragon King, mano y mano, a last man standing, or last beast.

Biarce was standing on a platform near the top, where the Sea Dragon King's head was just parallel to it.

First, Biarce slid to the side, where the Sea Dragon tried to bite him, but he dodged and started to lash away with his phantom snakes.

The Sea Dragon backed away, but Biarce used his Ice power and slammed a large ball of ice at the sea dragon, knocking him into a daze and resting his head on the platform, this gave Biarce time to think.

Now how am I going to kill this one? It's the bigger than the others, and the eye looks sturdier."

Biarce pondered until he saw the mast pole sticking out of the platform, this gave him an idea…

He then grabbed the bottom and upper jaws of the Sea Dragon with his phantom snakes.

"Wait for it…"

Suddenly, the Sea Dragon moved, "NOW!"

Then he slammed the Sea Dragon's head into the pole, breaking it slightly, but it was still there.

"Almost!" thought Biarce.

The Sea Dragon woke up and tried to attack him again, Biarce did practically the same method to fight him, and as soon as the Sea Dragon rested his head in a stun, he hooked the jaws and slammed him as he woke up, breaking the mast a bit more.

But the third time was different, the Dragon gave a loud ROAR, and Biarce was almost flown back, but grabbed onto the pole, the Dragon gave even more ROARS, and Biarce was struggling against the wind and bad breath.

"Urgh, must, do this…"

And he threw one of his phantom snakes at the creature's tonsils, and as it quickly got out, the Sea Dragon once again landed on the platform.

Biarce did the same trick of slamming him again, but this time, the mast broke off, and was now in the shape of a spear-tip…

"Perfect!" thought Biarce.

Then he jumped up onto the head of the Sea Dragon King and used his phantom snakes to bite onto the creature's eyelids, where it bucked around like in a rodeo, and Biarce pulled harder, causing more blood to burst out. Finally, he jumped to the creature's nose and took a great leap of faith, but old kingy wasn't finished with him yet.

The Sea Dragon once again tried to bite him, but Biarce had already started falling so the monster missed him by a few inches. Then, Biarce hooked onto it's jaws, and, keeping his feet planted on the bottom of the platform, he began to tow the monsters jaws towards the mast, looks like Biarce was planning on impaling it, and besides, he never did like to use magic too much to help him kill a monster, all it took was a simple good old-fashioned BRUTALIZING.

Finally, the monster went down and was skewered through the jaw and out into its eyes.

The pain was so bad! The creature tried to get away, but Biarce kept tugging at it, making sure it stayed skewered, the creature couldn't take anymore, and finally, its life was snuffed out for good, its jaw wide open…

"Help me…!" shouted a voice inside the mouth of the creature.

Biarce went inside a rather slippery esophagus until he came to a ledge due to the fact the creature's head was bent as it died.

There, hanging on for dear life, was the captain, Biarce bent forward and tried to reach out to him, the captain tried to grab onto him as well. Suddenly, he slipped, and was about to fall, but Biarce grabbed the key around his neck, and he pulled him at arms length.

"Thank you! THANK YOU! Oh, Thank the Gods you came back for me!" said the captain, thankful to be alive.

But Biarce turned on a cold face.

"I didn't come back for you…" he said venomously, and then, he yanked the key off his neck and let him fall to his doom.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

As how bone-chilling the scream was, Biarce couldn't care less, and walked out non-chalantly, as if the captain didn't even exist.

(A/N: If you actually thought he was gonna save him, well, you thought wrong)

Biarce climbed up some crates and grabbed a rope to slide back to the previous ship, he got to the locked door and opened it, he then followed a short corridor to another door, and kicked it open.

There, Biarce watched as the undead had just finished them off, and were caught by surprise by Biarce's arrival. But Biarce wasted no time in mowing two of them down, and the last one, the third, was pierced in the stomach by Biarce's two clasped hands, where he used both his hands, one going up and the other going down, and sliced him in half, with a lot of blood on his armor and clothes too…

Finally, Biarce took a look at the bodies, there, maimed, dissected, mutilated, were the victims, truly, like lambs to the slaughter.

But this was only a reminder to Biarce, a reminder of the terrible deeds he had committed so long ago, but it was fresh in his mind as if it had only occurred five minutes earlier…

Flashback…

Biarce is riding on a horse, slicing a guy's head off, ramming skulls into rocks, and reveling in a bloodbath obscured by mist.

End Flashback…

Biarce's only solace was the sea, constantly sailing from one port to the next, in service to the gods of the Pantheon.

And yet, no matter how much battles he fought, nor how much ale he could gulp down, the nightmares never ceased…

And the visions came back as before, but with the addition of an old woman laughing sinisterly…

"ISHTAR!"

On the deck of his ship, a statue of the mother goddess suddenly came to life, acting as a communication to Biarce.

Biarce boomed out of his quarters.

"Ten years, Ishtar! I have served you and the other gods for TEN YEARS!! When will you rid me of my nightmares!?!" he shouted.

"We have one final task for you, Biarce, and I promise you, your desires shall be granted" said Ishtar.

"Even as we speak, the city that has honored my name, Persepolis, is under siege by the evil demon lord, Astaroth, at this very moment, my great city is falling, all by the will of Astaroth. You must save my city Biarce, I command it."

"And if I accomplish this task, to kill a Demon Lord, then the visions… they will cease?" asked Biarce.

"Complete this final task, Biarce, and I promise, you're sins shall be forgiven" said Ishtar as she fell silent.

Leaving the rotting corpses of the Sea Dragons behind, Biarce set forth on his final mission, leading him to the great city of Persepolis…

A/N: Sorry if I haven't written in a while, I have just been very, very busy, and now, I have exams again, so this will have to do for the readers, but I will continue it! I promise, especially to Secret Murderer.


	12. Origins pt II

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls show, and who would've known Buttercup's special skill is being able to fold her tongue.

Episode 12: Origins pt. 2

Biarce had arrived at the port of Persepolis, the journey to the great city was uneventful, but now that he had arrived, it was going to get at least more interesting.

Being twenty one years old, Biarce had also apparently been in the habit of bringing "lovely" ladies into his bed, but even that couldn't help him.

"Stay in bed Biarce, just a little longer…" said one of them.

"I'm sorry, but we are finished, I expect you to leave when I return" said Biarce.

He left them as he looked at the last entry of his journal…

_No matter how many of them I bring along, they all look like her…_

Biarce left his ship, it wasn't smelly, and was the least bit luxurious and comfortable, but Biarce was more at home on a battlefield than anywhere else at the moment.

Biarce walked on the plank connecting his ship to the harbor and started his mission on the docks, where he was met with a surprising welcoming committee- Astaroth's Undead Soldiers! Looks like the Demon Lord was expecting him, but Biarce didn't think he would encounter them so soon, and if Ishtar expected this, why did she not inform him?

Regardless, Biarce had to push on. Looking around, Biarce noticed that so far, the docks remained relatively untouched other than a few minor pieces of rubble lying around.

Biarce went around the docks for a while, as a long and tall stone wall had blockaded his path, and the outer gate that led passage into the Road to Persepolis had collapsed and is now buried in debris, Biarce decided to use an alternative: Elevators.

The engineers of Persepolis had apparently been in the habit of building primitive wooden elevators when repairs on certain sections of wall were necessitated, and Biarce might find it to his advantage to find one and get into the inner walls of the port.

Biarce was successful, and discovered an elevator just beyond a long hallway inside one of the harbor's buildings, and lifted himself up to the upper levels.

On top, Biarce walked on some wooden scaffolding, repairs were recently started on this wall, but there were no workers now.

Still ahead, Biarce saw two soldiers running from a turn on the far end of the scaffolding platform, "Run away! We have to escape the city!" shouted one of them.

Just behind, Biarce saw what they were running from: two large, axe-wielding werewolves, the veterans of Astaroth's army.

"Watch out!" shouted one of them to the other.

The one just ahead him didn't see the werewolf throw one of it's two axes which decapitated him, then another werewolf charged and using his all the force he could muster, struck at the other man which resulted in most of his body parts flinging away, and staining a nearby Biarce, watching unfazed by the brutality of the slaughter.

Biarce now realizes that Astaroth had sent them as well, and that he was practically their meat for the day.

But Biarce rammed his head into the first one's stomach and jumped up on his torso, ramming his dagger into its mouth while the monster tried to foolishly hold back Biarce's arms, and utterly fail.

The second one tried to hit him with its axe, but Biarce grabbed its axe and hacked off its legs! Then he jammed the axe blade into its skull as it tried to escape.

Biarce continued on until he came to another elevator, which brought him down, and now he was in the courtyard facing the Inner Gate, which would lead him straight to Persepolis, but once again, he found his path impeded-the mechanism that usually opened the gate had been destroyed, as two moaning, hopeless soldiers had just stated on the other side, only to be quickly silenced by two undead soldiers that decapitated one and impaled the other.

Biarce was then assaulted by another wave of Astaroth's monsters: Sand Golems.

Incredibly big and quite resilient, Sand Golems were one of Astaroth's more powerful minions- huge, vaguely humanoid forms made of sand with two glowing yellow eyes and a single, glowing red stone in their chests.

These red stones are not their hearts, as one may think; being artificial constructs who can survive without a pump. Rather, they are pegs that hold live human blood, the universal demonic "fossil fuel" that many demons use to fuel their war machines. In the case of many demon war machines, a series of tubes, or veins, pass into and act as the conduit of the fuel of these monsters, but one fatal flaw was that these vein lines could never connect properly, and thus had to be held in place by pegs.

Biarce climbed up the chest of one Sand Golem, and forcefully ripped its peg open, letting out all its blood.

The second one had a huge spiked ball in place of a hand, and launched it out a ways via a connected chain, it landed squarely in Biarce's chest. He was stunned for a moment, but managed to recover, Biarce grabbed the spiked ball and yanked off the Golem's weapon, and then he threw it at the peg, breaking it and killing the Golem.

The last one charged at Biarce, sending the latter flying back a ways, but Biarce dashed forward after recovering, and punched its crotch, the Golem tried to hammer him, but Biarce dashed under the legs and stabbed it on the buttocks, then he climbed up and onto the head, where he punched through and let the blood come out of this end instead of the other way.

Biarce went through an open passage, there had to be a way to get past the gate. Going in, Biarce found himself in the Masonry Workshop, with lots of stone blocks and cranes, as well as another blocked exit, but Biarce was in luck; there was a crane right in front of the door, as well as an opening just above the blocked exit, Biarce erected the crane just a little bit higher, then he jumped through the opening, looks like smooth-sailing from this point.

But what's this? Another exit, but this time, with a deity aura around it, as Biarce approached a female deity appeared.

"Lady Freya"

"Biarce, you are going to face the greatest challenge we of the Pantheon will ever give, and for this purpose, I will grant you the power to petrify your foes and render them defenseless… But for this gift, you will need to earn it."

Nearby, on a stone block held up by chains, was a monster watching the scene.

Then Biarce and Freya looked upon it: it was a large creature twice the size of a bull, and it had four three-clawed feet, it had a tail made of bone, and a head which looked like the cross between a wolf and a buffalo, only with tusks instead of horns.

"Behold, the Catoblepas! Anyone who dares touch its foul breath will turn to stone, claim its head, Biarce, and the power of petrification will be yours"

Biarce went and faced the creature, as for the Catoblepas, it jumped down from its hiding place, and looked at Biarce intently. Then the creature unleashed its breath attack, which turned Biarce into stone and, using this opportunity, tried to ram into Biarce and shatter him.

But Biarce broke free at the last moment and grabbed onto the creature's throat, then he slammed it face first into the ground, where he stepped onto its back and grabbed onto its head, spinning and tugging until he yanked it off.

Just then, a group of Astaroth's werewolves magically teleported via a black mist which materialized from the ground. How unintentionally considerate of Astaroth, sending his minions to be doomed by Biarce's latest power- Petrification.

Biarce held the Catoblepas head aloft, and unleashed its petrifying breath on the hapless monsters, finishing them off once they were stoned.

Before departing, Freya said her goodbyes to Biarce, as well as the blessings of the Pantheon.

"Go with the gods, Biarce, go forth, in the name of the Pantheon…"

And Biarce left through the exit, where he fought off, ripped up, and slammed more undead soldiers.

Biarce then climbed up a ladder, and was now on the rooftop of a building to the left side of the archway that led through the gate, Biarce just now noticed a large statue standing on this side of the archway as well, as well as the rooftop of a nearby building armed with a ballista, aiming precisely at a lookout window, Biarce knew what he had to do.

First, he climbed up some sturdy moss to reach four high pillars at the top of the archway, not too difficult. By the time he got to the first pillar, he had to jump to the next one until he got to the other end.

Biarce also took this time to scout what was just behind the pillars: across the distance, he could see the lights of fires and the flashes of explosions, just great; he was all alone in the port while the real battle was raging across the distance.

Finally, he got onto the other side of the archway, where he had to shimmy across a ledge to reach the statue on the other end, once there, Biarce backed up against the wall, his feet to the statue, and pushed until he toppled the statue.

The head broke off and rolled onto the side of the adjacent building, serving as a stepping stone, Biarce jumped down and climbed up the head and onto the rooftop, but met with some new company: two of Astaroth's serpentine Basilisks.

Biarce had a much harder time with these fellars, since they moved very fast, and fired beams of petrification from their eyes; luckily, they aren't immune to Biarce's newest power.

Biarce grabbed the first one and twisted its head off, then the other fired some of its rays, but since it was slower than Catoblepas Breath in terms of how fast it takes to turn someone into stone, Biarce unleashed a fog of it which turned the poor creature into stone pretty quickly.

Then, with all the force he could muster, Biarce threw the severed head of the first one and smashed it cleanly into the second one, shattering the latter into pieces.

Biarce broke a pair of pillars because the ballista was located on the second panel of the building, and he needed the pillars to get up.

Once there, Biarce pulled back on the winch holding the ballista's bolt in place, then fired it at the opening, a trail of rope followed the bolt, making for a means to cross to the other side, how ingenious.

Biarce was hanging and heading towards the other side, but halfway there, a band of undead soldiers comes along from the opening, impeding his path.

Moreover, another group of undead just below him, are climbing up the building with the ballista, oh no, they were gonna cut the rope! And Biarce was still halfway through, with more undead impeding him.

Biarce thought up a unique idea- when one of the undead got in front of him, he used Oceanus' power to freeze them in place, and used the Catoblepas Breath to turn their legs into stone, the weight of the heavy stone on the fragile ice was enough to send them down for the count, this was what made Biarce all the more a dangerous adversary, for he had both strength AND intellect, the only other people to employ this personality is Brick and Blossom, but with less subtlety and more ruthlessness.

Biarce only had a few more moments before the ones on the other end cut the rope and cut him off completely.

He succeeded, albeit barely, and got onto the other end, now he was one step closer to the City's Main Road, but had one last impediment to his path, a large iron door, and a ballista, quite different from the last one, since it had a crude, automated reloading mechanism. Knowing that he can't break down the iron door with the ballista, Biarce had to lift it up from the other side.

He walked towards the door and saw another passage at the side which led to a lower floor, he jumped down and went through a winding route which led to a ladder and the other side of the iron door.

Biarce found a bar which he used to lift the Iron Gate, and he ran back to the ballista, there was another door blocking the way when Biarce went around and opened the Gate, but fortunately, it was wooden, so he could easily open it, or more accurately, break it down.

Biarce pulled up, and launched the bolt, the door broke open and… two more werewolves?

Biarce had two options, he could go and finish them the old-fashioned way, or use his magical powers and make them wish they hadn't been there. He chose a third option…

Biarce waited until the next bolt reloaded, and fired, impaling and killing the first one, and then did the same with the second, what a man Biarce was.

It was now smooth sailings, at least until he got to Persepolis.

Biarce was now on the Road to Persepolis, it was relatively short: a mere bridge over a large chasm which led to the mountainside that led to the city.

As he got to the middle, an apparition appeared before him, it was that of a man wearing a white, almost silken tunic and a staff on his hand.

Biarce thought this to be an enemy, and was readying himself until the apparition reassured him, "Do not be alarmed, Biarce, I am here to help you. I am the High Priest of Persepolis, come and find me at the Ishtar Temple, located on the far side of the city, there, I will tell you how to defeat Astaroth" and with those words, he vanished.

This was the first good news Biarce has ever had in a while, and at least he won't be wandering around the city aimlessly trying to fight off Astaroth AND his entire army.

Biarce went up the steps towards the cliffs, and there, on an overlook, was the battle raging in fire and death before him, one can't help but admire the scenic view of flames burning and life lost to death, it almost felt amazing.

Beyond that, was the towering, titanic Demon Lord himself, his size taller than the highest tower of the era, and carried himself as if he was war itself.

Biarce looked at him, but was not at all intimidated, Astaroth's appearance was fiendish: his skin was as red as the blood that ran through your veins, and he wore ebony dark plate armor which resonated with an evil and malevolent aura, armed with three fingers, and yet it never seemed to bother him, his face held a pair of small, man-sized eyes that shined a green, chaotic energy. And his hair and beard, black as the Abyss where he crawled from.

Biarce looked at Astaroth, his eyes filled with hate and disgust towards the Demon Lord, as the mighty Astaroth tossed around and stomped the defenders of Persepolis personally, while his minions might already have ravaged the city's streets by now.

"Demon Lord, I have not forgotten about you, but I will no longer honor… our _alliance_."

Biarce needed to make haste, for the city may be strong, but it will only be a matter of time before it finally gives way.

Biarce walked around the sides of the mountainside, following the trail to the city. Finally, he was in the Cliffside Streets, lined with little houses, some broken, others untouched.

Biarce walked around for a bit, observing the relative emptiness of the streets… until a horde of panicking civilians ran past him, and Biarce saw they were being chased by undead soldiers.

Biarce was really beginning to get annoyed by the persistence of Astaroth's grunts.

After finishing them off, Biarce went on, until he came to a large pit on the road, caused by Astaroth launching a meteor his way, either that was a warning shot, or Astaroth was reveling in the destruction he was causing, either way Biarce didn't care, he grabbed on to a rope dangling above him and proceeded towards the Town Square.

(A/N: Don't ask where the rope came from)

Biarce continued further, and finally arrived at the Town Square, this place, at the very least, was in much better condition, at least for now, there was no one around, and not a sound was to be heard but faint screams and even fainter crashing sounds.

Biarce went inside one of the buildings, where he was about to go up some steps, until he saw someone, a middle-aged woman, running from him, shouting something that went like "Stay Away!"

Biarce gave chase, because, as much as he didn't want to, that woman might have some information on where the Ishtar Temple might be, as he needed to find the Oracle and to learn the secret to defeat Astaroth.

Biarce continued further, eventually cornering the woman to a balcony.

"Please, stay back! I know who you are! You Monster! Don't come any closer! Don't… Ahh!!!!" and the woman had accidentally fallen off the balcony and back into the Town Square with a bone-crushing thud.

Biarce looked down from the balcony, seeing the woman dead, and lost what could have been his only lead, he turned around the balcony, finding a wooden hatch that wouldn't open, and he needed yet another key to get past this one.

Then Biarce remembered a glinting object by the corpse of the woman, even in death, she unwittingly assisted him.

Biarce jumped back down to grab the key, but who would've thought? The moment he picked it up, the way leading back up to the balcony was blocked by a force field, and two nasty Sand Golems armed with huge log sized clubs instead of the spiked ball arm.

Biarce had a hard time with these nasties just as much as the last batch that were sent after him, only that these were adapted into more mobility and less sloppiness, providing more of a challenge for our young warrior.

Nevertheless, Biarce finished them off by ripping off their blood pegs, the first one by stabbing his secondary dagger into it, and on the other golem by grabbing onto the forehead and blinding its eyes, then slicing the pegs loose.

Voila! The Force field dissipated and Biarce was on his way back to the hatch, opened it up, and went under a connecting tunnel which led further into the city.

Soon, Biarce came at a fork, and looked at the right-hand side; a group of soldiers came rushing in, "Hurry! Astaroth has breached the city and… aauughhh!" and the roof came crashing down on them, blocking the entrance and leaving the soldiers dead and Biarce without any other option but to use the other way.

But what that soldier said before dying made Biarce realize something that became all the more terribly clear, but he needed to confirm this for himself…

Biarce was now at the end of the tunnel, and went past broken iron bars that led to one of the city's bathhouses, he looked outside the window to see the city in flames and its citizens frantically running away from Astaroth's minions.

Biarce continued to eye the scenes unfolding in front of him, until he heard a sound which vaguely resembled that of an earthquake, but came as if in a regular pacing rate. The sound chilled Biarce to the core; he knew what this sound was, but needed visual confirmation.

Biarce left the bathhouse, and went towards a building with some moss growing on the side for use to help him climb to the rooftops, for that was the only place to get a good view of the immediate area.

Biarce was finally on the roofs, and it was just as he had thought, Astaroth was already in the city!

But he mustn't waste anytime, Biarce must find the Oracle, before Astaroth topples everything down, or else, his only hope for salvation would be lost forever…

Biarce started wandering around the rooftops a bit, maintaining his distance from Astaroth so as not to attract his attention.

He then came across a multi-story building, connecting another building to it, and Astaroth's Undead archers firing at Biarce, but the latter pushed through just fine, entering the building without much incident.

Biarce came and looked at the inside of the temple, he went like this for a while, until he came to a large, fortified wooden door, and he went towards it. As he neared, Biarce sensed a powerful, yet, benevolent, energy coming from the other side, he recognized this power, and it was that of a Pantheon Deity.

But since it was fortified, Biarce had no way of gaining entry without something to break it down.

Suddenly, the roof just behind him collapsed, and the damaged, but still functioning, remains of a ballista with an already prepared bolt appeared along with the rubble, these strange, almost opportune coincidences seem to be getting a little more frequent than usual.

Biarce used it to break down the door, and proceeded into one of the most finest rooms he had ever seen, in fact, one of the only rooms with such a fine degree of world-class craftsmanship he has ever seen so far.

Polished wooden floors, golden, finely-sculpted statues and statuettes, and other delicately arranged accoutrements to add to the room's splendor, but beyond that, an exit was blocked by a Deity aura, surrounded by two "exaggerative" statuettes of Ishtar lining the exit.

Biarce walked towards it, and saw the image of another Deity stand before him, with a long beard protruding only his chin and extending from his temples to his hair.

"Lord Ares" greeted Biarce.

"Biarce, you have gone a long way but as of yet, this is still only the beginning of your quest. Astaroth should know that you are a warrior that must be feared, the ultimate amalgamation of savage brutality and shrewd intellect. But know that you have the will and the potential to become even more powerful, so now, I shall grant you the power of war itself!"

"Take this power Biarce, take it, and use it to conquer your enemies!"

And before leaving, gave Biarce his blessing, "Go with the Gods Biarce, go forth, in the name of the Pantheon" and dissipated away, leaving Biarce to move forward.

Biarce came back out the way he came, just through the exit Ares left him, as soon as he was at the connecting bridge, the Undead rained arrows on him again, but with his new power, the ability to fling the flames of war, in the form of reddish, chaotic fireballs, Biarce left his foes to burn in the hell that awaited them for ever getting in his way.

After that, Biarce went through another entrance of an adjacent building nearby, here, he encountered a wounded soldier, crawling away towards Biarce, but before he could make it, a shroud of pitch black mist emerged behind him, and as it came under him, a knife-like blade emerged and impaled the poor guy. The figure behind this assault emerged, it was a floating cloak of a particular navy-blue, with blades in place of arm on it, a pair of round, blood-red eyes peered from its hood as it looked at Biarce. It then giggled a sinister laugh as more of its kind emerged behind it.

Biarce jumped towards the ghoulish lot when they dove back into the safety of the black shrouds they created, they fiendishly circled Biarce, waiting for the fatal moment. Suddenly, one of them rushed towards Biarce, his blades swinging around to attack him, but Biarce grabbed the arms of the cowardly wraith and pulled it out of its containment, Biarce then pinned him in place with its own blades, and pulled its head off, spewing blood in the process.

(A/N: And you thought ghosts didn't have blood!)

The second one emerged and tried to land a violent hit on Biarce as it jumped up, but Biarce dodged it and ran his fist right through it, and finally, the third one tried to escape by transforming into black mist and ran off, but Biarce froze the ground beneath it, forcing it out, and quickly dispatching it by dicing it in four.

Biarce continued upwards through the roofs for a while, watching Astaroth devastate the city from a far off distance.

Finally, he came to a connecting bridge that led to another building, however it was pulled down and a man from the other side was holding the lever which kept it up.

"You! I must get across, extend the bridge right now!" yelled Biarce.

But the man was frozen and insane with terror, and stubbornly refused to help him.

"N-n-no, I-I won't let them near me! All these terrible monsters! They-they'll tear me APART!" he shouted in absolute fear.

"Coward…" muttered Biarce, and he quickly used one of his firebolts to vaporize the man, releasing the lever and finally getting across.

Biarce went down for a while, eventually finding his way back to the Town Square, but the place was much different from the last time he checked- the ground was covered in bloodied corpses and the fountain in the center was a deep red.

He walked on what was once the archway forming the entrance to the square, going on further which led back to the mountains, a couple of miles up, he found a temple across the distance, it must be the Ishtar Temple, and went to see if the oracle was inside.

But before he could, he was stopped by a hush, old voice near one of the graves around the temple.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Biarce…" said the voice, Biarce readied himself, but the voice re-assured him.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to pick a fight…" and the source of the voice emerged, it was a rather withered, old, cantankerous man wearing a dirty rag and carrying a shovel emerging from a rather deep grave.

"Hmm… cold, unfeeling eyes and skin as pale as the moon on a clear night, you must be the one indeed" said the old man, and he turned and continued to dig the grave he emerged from.

"Digging a grave in the middle of a battle? Who will occupy this grave, old man?" asked Biarce.

"Why, you will, Biarce…" replied the old man, and this confounded Biarce.

"Oh, don't worry, there's nothing negative I am trying to connote to you, just trust time to reveal all things, but for now, you should see the oracle, for you have your task and I have mine, and very little time for either of us as well, now get on with you! While I'm still in a good mood" said the man rather harshly.

Biarce didn't know whether to trust this guy or not, but he had no time to dillydally; he must find the oracle at once!

Biarce entered the temple, and there, at the Temple's back courtyard, was the oracle, waiting for him.

"Welcome, Biarce, I see you are ready to save Persepolis…" said the Oracle as he approached Biarce, "…Or is it Persepolis you've come to save?" then he put his hands on Biarce's head and looked into his head.

"No, wait…!"

Inside Biarce's head, the Oracle saw in it, a beast as well as a boy. Had history remembered Biarce, it would have stated that he was the youngest and boldest military general on Earth, at age thirteen, at the behest of his deceased father; he commandeered his very own army against a horde of zealous fanatics who sought to defy Astaroth, the patron deity of his father's cult.

But that was only the beginning of the many years of terror he would inflict on his enemies. He went on a rampage, slaughtering thousands of lives, all in the name of his empire and his master, Astaroth.

The only person who would dare brave his wrath was his sister.

"How much is enough, brother!? When will this madness end!?!" pleaded his sister.

"When the glory of our empire is known throughout the world!" replied Biarce.

"The glory of our empire… you did this for yourself!!" she shouted.

But her pleas would fall on deaf ears, as Biarce continued on his warpath, true, he never did this for his empire, it was all so he would become the most powerful warrior on Earth at any price.

But the price for such power, as he would ultimately witness, was something even one such as Biarce could never hope to bear…

And suddenly, images in the Oracle's vision changed into that of Biarce, standing atop a large earthen pillar, with a rain of blood from the skies and a sea of flames down below…

The Oracle immediately broke his trance, unable to bear what he had just witnessed.

"My goodness! Why would Ishtar send one such as you!" he said towards Biarce in shock.

"Stay out of my head!" yelled Biarce as he pushed the Oracle away for his impudence.

"Be careful who you choose to be your enemies Biarce, whatever the reason why Ishtar sent you, she has clearly made her choice, and now I will reveal to you how to defeat Astaroth. Somewhere, beyond the great Desert of Fallen Souls, is a legendary relic of unspeakable power; this artifact is the legendary Chaos Urn, a weapon which contains the only power strong enough to fight against Astaroth. You will need to pass through the gates outside of the city in order to reach it; but be warned, many have already searched for the Urn, none of them ever came back…"

End of Chapter…

A/N: These chapters are going to get longer and longer as this flashback story progresses, but I really think this was more action than anything, oh well, I think I'll tone it down in the next few chapters. By the way, Secret Murderer, what do you think?


	13. Origins pt III

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Same as always

Episode 13: Origins pt. 3

The Oracle opened a secret passage behind the statue near the altar, telling Biarce that as long as Astaroth is now in the city, it will be impossible to get out undetected if Biarce uses the normal way out. The passage opened to him will take him to the sewers which are safer, and ultimately take him back to the Persepolis Road if he is to reach the Desert of Fallen Souls.

Biarce bids the Oracle goodbye as he enters through. A few ways off, Biarce found himself standing on a very high cliff, Biarce looked beyond, the cold sea breeze sweeping his face, the starlit sky hanging above, and the crashing waves of the sea below…

Biarce stepped onto the steep precipice of the cliff and looked down at the sea, for some strange reason the waters below seem… strangely familiar, as if his fate were tied to it in some way…

Nevertheless, Biarce left to ponder this later.

To the side of the exit that led back to the temple, Biarce found some steps which led down into the bay, looking across the distance, he also saw yet another, but clothed, statue of the goddess Ishtar holding a sword and pointing it upwards…

At last Biarce found the entrance to the sewers, built right into the bottom of the cliff.

He went in and had to go through a REALLY long spiral staircase before he reached the bottom, as he did, he now had to wade through waist-deep water from the looks of it if he was to continue.

There was no way to run, especially because the murky sewer water made it impossible to do so, but Biarce took his time.

As he went on for a couple more hours, Biarce noted a tingling sensation creeping over him, the sewers were… too quiet… almost like he was being watched…

Biarce turned to see… no one, this felt all to strange, he could sense a presence, but can't see anything… but he knew there was someone there…

He stood still for a moment, then an hour, then two hours and a half… Finally, Biarce drew out his knife and slashed the water at his back, his moves were so fast you couldn't see if he hit anything or not, but Biarce saw enough, he saw blood rise out of the water…

Immediately after that, Biarce rushed as quickly as he could from this place, suddenly the water behind him began to foam, and Biarce quickened his pace, knowing what this meant.

He continued rushing, until he came upon a large wall, just above it was another ledge, and a way out.

Biarce jumped up and used his wraith snakes to grab hold and get up, and not a moment too soon, for the thing pursuing him emerged from the waters below, it was a massive, red colored blob with a thousand eyes dotting all over its body, and long tentacles.

It reached out towards Biarce with its long, lashing tentacle and propelled the white-skinned warrior into its mass, where Biarce seemingly dissolved into its mass… until Biarce, using his ice powers, froze the creature from the inside, then punched out and continued on his way, leaving the frozen remains of the creature behind.

Moving forward, Biarce eventually came upon another long spiral staircase, after which Biarce pulled a lever near the top to reveal another set of steps, and finally reaching out into the open air, Biarce looked around, more blood and mutilated bodies, but a familiar scene, he was back at the bridge which connected the city to the wharves and also the place where he first met the oracle.

Biarce went up to the familiar road which led to Persepolis, and watching the same view from the lookout, all the defenders of Persepolis had moved from the battlefield to the city, where Astaroth can be seen fighting against the Oracle's troops…

Biarce also saw that the way back to the city as he took it was blocked, so he instead took another route as he is needed elsewhere.

Biarce continued moving along the Cliffside road, eventually arriving at a large gate with yet another pair of goddess statues between it.

Biarce approached the large gate, suddenly; the emblem of the Oracle appeared on it, and then, the gate opened to reveal a long down-going slope, beyond which was the Desert of Fallen Souls.

Biarce made his way down the path and finally arrived at the entrance to the desert, where he was greeted by a statue of the goddess which came to life.

"I see that you are set on your journey, Biarce" said Ishtar.

"The Oracle spoke of the legendary Chaos Urn, I have heard tales of this relic in my many adventures throughout the world, in some areas people mistakenly refer to it as Pandora's Box, others as the Secret of Fire, but more importantly, is this artifact real?" asked Biarce.

"The relic exists…" replied the goddess.

"…And with this artifact… I can use it to defeat Astaroth?" asked Biarce.

"With the Urn, many things become possible, that is why, to protect it from those who would abuse power, it has been sent away, far from both civilization and mortals, to the shifting sands of this desert, under the watchful eye of Tiamat, the Titan Dragon."

"A Titan Dragon? I thought they had died out and were extinct" said Biarce.

"Tiamat is the last of her kind. As punishment for rebelling against the Pantheon, Tiamat now wanders this unforgiving wasteland until the hot sands rip the very flesh from her body. As an addition, a mountain was chained onto her back, and built onto the side of this mountain, is the Temple of Titans, where the Chaos Urn is stored. First, you will need to defeat the three Guardian Sirens who wander this desert in order to reach the Titan Sanctum, and from there, the path to the Temple shall be within reach." And with those words, Ishtar once again fell silent.

Biarce, with no other way to go, entered the desert, neither courage nor fear hindering his mission.

Biarce wandered on for a bit, determined to find his targets, but with no luck, and with the sandstorm that had engulfed the desert just now, visibility was extremely low.

After a while, Biarce found some ruins nearby, and sat down on a broken pillar.

Biarce decided to wait and see if the sandstorm will die down anytime soon.

After about ten minutes, and with no sign of ending, Biarce was about to get up when he heard a distinct sound in the air, it sounded very faint, but it sounded like a kind of song, as if from an opera of sorts, and the longer he waited, the more the sound became clear.

Biarce listened closely, the sound was both beautiful and womanly, but he was unfazed by the sound, Biarce then turned around, as the sound had reached maximum capacity, at which point he could easily determine where it came from.

Biarce turned and saw a black haired woman wearing a tattered dark green dress, any sign of legs were not apparent as she floated on by, singing her song, Biarce just looked at her as she began encircling him, continuing to entice him with her song. It was then that Biarce realized this must be one of the Guardian Sirens who would lead him to the Titan Sanctum, but held back from asking questions when he sensed an unnatural aura about her being.

The Siren suddenly stopped, and seeing that her song had no effect on Biarce, turned into something unexpected- her jaw dropped down to an uneven length, revealing rows or dirty, bloodied sharp teeth, and her voice turning from a beautiful song to a horrific shriek!

Biarce is still unfazed, but in a split-second, he found the creature reaching out and attempt to claw at him, Biarce is able to grapple the creature as both start to wrestle each other, eventually, Biarce is able to get his left hand on her head and finally break the siren's neck. As Biarce looks at the dead siren, the spirit of the creature flies out and jets off elsewhere in the desert. Seeing opportunity presenting itself, Biarce raced off to follow it, only to realize the spirit is moving too fast for him to follow, as he soon loses track.

Biarce once again continues moving through the desert, but at least has an idea to go thanks to the siren's direction in which she left.

Biarce kept on going for a while, until he heard yet another sound, different from the last but similar to the previous one nonetheless, Biarce, believing it to be another chance to find the Sanctum, headed out for its direction.

Biarce eventually arrived at the remains of what was once a white-washed marble amphitheatre, singing on stage was another Siren, only this time, she had dirty blonde hair and a tattered blue dress, but looked similar in appearance to the previous one.

Biarce looked at it, not at all swayed by its singing.

This time, instead of lunging, the Siren vanished into black smoke. Biarce was caught off guard, but turned in time to see the creature appear behind him, shrieking her deadly shriek, and tossing orbs of lightning at him, but Biarce expertly dodged them with precise accuracy, he then ran towards the creature, but it disappeared, reappeared, and did the same thing all over again.

Biarce found himself at odds, until he decided to take out his secret weapon. Waiting for opportunity, Biarce readied himself, in preparation for the assault, then as expected, the creature appeared once more, but Biarce took out his Catoblepas Head and sprayed the stone breath on the creature, paralyzing it, and in one quick blow, destroyed it as well.

Biarce looked on as he saw its soul flying out towards the desert, and Biarce once again followed it.

This time, Biarce finally found the Titan Sanctum with the help of the fallen Siren's spirit. He then noticed that the spirit of the previous one latched itself onto the door, glowing green, and the other one, the recently killed one, also latched itself on the door, glowing blue, there was one last spot left as well, empty, waiting to be filled up.

Biarce new what this meant, and he waited around for the inevitable.

As expected, the last one appeared, wearing a tattered red dress, and with red hair as well, the only difference being that it no longer bothered singing, instead shrieking directly, And using both speed and bolts of energy at Biarce.

This one was much more deadly than the previous, and as such, Biarce had his hands full, moving faster than a Ping-Pong ball, the third Siren launched attacks unendingly.

Biarce was sitting ducks, until he launched his phantom snake beneath the creature, then he stabbed its fangs on the Siren's breasts, then he catapulted it towards himself, after which he punched it right through the gut, killing it and releasing its spirit to finally release the last lock.

Biarce entered the Sanctum, looking towards a broken pillar, decided to sit down for a breather.

After a while, Biarce continued through the ruins, looking at the murals carved at the sides, one had the picture of Tiamat, her wings torn from her back as it is replaced with chains and a huge mountain, and another mural showing the architect of the temple, Arathos Velken IX, bowing before Ishtar as she gives him the order to construct the Temple of Titans. Eventually, Biarce came towards the end of the corridor he walked through. The hall ended in a large opening blocked by a massive impenetrable sandstorm, standing in front of it at the end of the corridor was a very large blowing horn, pointing directly at the storm, Biarce took the horn and blew it with all his breath.

Like a miracle, the sandstorm parted ways to reveal a path which led to yet another overlook. Biarce strolled casually through the path, eventually reaching the top of the overlook which looked out across the vast desert; it sure looked hot, with a clear blue sky above and a vast sea of sand below, and in between was the great Titan Dragon herself, her massive scaly bulk showed great contrast- she was terrifyingly threatening, but her appearance no longer supported it, two cauterized stumps just above her shoulders suggested those were all that remained of her wings, and chains rattled endlessly on her back, with a mountain that was just about her size attached onto her back, and, as she rears up, the Temple of Titans could be seen built into the sides.

Biarce looked on until he took notice of a large circular gold plate with an engraving upon it, the rims held a sort of inscription which stated that it was a vision of the past- it was the picture of a large fruit-bearing tree, one of these fruits, a large crimson-colored one, was the most dominant fruit of all the others in the engraving, and it looked like it was opening…

Biarce pondered this for a minute, until a short gust of wind and dust interrupted him for a minute, then he turned back and saw the same horn he used to part the sandstorm was now in front of the overlook, facing the general direction of Tiamat.

Biarce stepped up towards the horn and gave another blow, this one called Tiamat to him. As expected, the great Titan Dragon sluggishly crawled over towards him, and, after observing him for a while, dropped a chain hanging from her sides, telling Biarce climb up.

Biarce did so; he jumped off the overlook, grabbed the dangling chain and proceeded to run along Tiamat's face, then he climbed up the mountain slope, there was no turning back now…

3 days later…

Biarce finally reached the temple's vicinity; he climbed up and stood upon a ledge connected to the front of the temple, on this little ledge was a sort of sign painted in blood and decorated with human skulls, as if it were a warning of sorts, "Like I'd care…" thought Biarce as he figured the sign's meaning.

Biarce walked on a long wooden rope bridge connecting the ledge to the temple entrance. Upon arriving, he noticed a large burning funeral pyre loaded with dead bodies on fire and others impaled by long poles as if they were being barbecued. Biarce then took notice of another zombie nearby, with rotting skin and a missing left arm, he approached closer, and as if knowing he was there, the zombie turned and eyed Biarce, the latter not bothering to draw his weapon because although this creature was an undead, the look on his eyes suggested there was still some humanity left in it.

"So, another poor soul sent to retrieve the Urn, huh?" said the zombie, "Well, if you must know, my 'disheveled' state, as you see before me, obviously means I've died, what goes on inside that death-trap of a temple is a living hell. I was the first to enter that place, and was its first casualty, even now I can no longer remember how I died as I was forced to clean up after the Temple Guardian's mess, I tell you, that place is a foreboding haven for not only its savage guardians, but suicidal fools. Now normally, I'd plead for you not to go, but seeing your face, you are determined, ah, why delay death?" Then the cremator zombie went and picked up a decapitated skull, and threw it at the giant flying corpse beetles that manage the temple entrance.

In an instant, they responded to the signal and raised the entrance door, "Good Luck, though I highly doubt you'll need it" said the cremator sarcastically and continued with his disposal work.

Biarce continued on and arrived inside the temple, it was nothing like the dusty outer region, with a shiny, reflective floor and large marble pillars at the walls, in front of the chamber laid a square-like pedestal with a book on it. As he approached, he leaned on the pedestal and read the book, apparently, it was a diary of the Temple's architect, curious, Biarce read the architect's first entry about the temple.

_Welcome, brave souls,_

_Here, in this foreboding edifice you have entered a hostile world,_

_Where madness and monsters in their most unspeakable forms lie in wait,_

_But beyond the terrors and traps that wait for you,_

_Beyond the monsters and miles to overcome, lies power in its purest form._

_Succeed, and the power to conquer all shall be yours,_

_Fail, and meet your eternal doom…_

This was all, though he never imagined it might as well be this hard, but he must not delay. He came upon a large, rotating circular door. Biarce simply placed his hand on the hand-shaped indention to roll the large stone door out of the way, and then he proceeded into a large emerald green corridor.

As he moved on, Biarce happened upon a most grisly sight- as he turned around a bend in the corridor, he found, at the foot of some stairs, dead bodies, lying twisted and mutilated in piles before him, Biarce could easily identify how most of them died, some were simply decapitated, some had their spines ripped out, others had their spines still intact but exposed from their backs, a few were burned to twisted ash-like shapes, still more had been sliced in half at the waist, while there were those who had been beaten to a pulp by a blunt weapon such as a club or hammer.

But even with all this, this was nothing surprising to Biarce, whether they were placed here to intimidate or warn him, Biarce was not at all shocked or even startled, they just reminded him of his past much more than he could want to take…

Flashback…

Biarce had become the greatest military leader at his young age, but even then, his reputation as a fearsome warrior had become a well-known fact, men cowered and respected him, women bowed before his presence, and children scared themselves with the stories of his exploits.

But even his savagery and his brutality would not prepare Biarce for his greatest challenge ever. Hailing from the northeast, a great and massive army of Barbarians came charging down into Biarce's homeland, warriors of their own accord, the Barbarian Horde challenged Biarce and his army to a showdown to prove who was the superior of the two, and, in their arrogance, Biarce accepted, confident that his abilities as a warrior would win him yet another victory, he was dead wrong.

Biarce and his elite Horseman Cavalry charged the Barbarian Camp, but as he did, he was a bit surprised that the Barbarian army was much larger than he expected, where his forces numbered in the tens of thousands, the barbarians came in the 20s of billions!

The first sign of conflict between the two was to be a volley of arrows from the Barbarians, and after that, they descended on Biarce's forces without mercy…

In just minutes right after the battle began, it seemed over… the army of Biarce found their own strength and savagery surpassed in these new enemies, and Biarce himself lay wounded at the feet of the Barbarian Warchief.

Just as hope seemed lost, Biarce was given no other option but to call for help, this would be a day of reckoning, as Biarce would set the events that would shape his destiny just to save himself…

"Astaroth! Strike down my enemies, and my life… is forever yours!"

And immediately after that, the heavens roared, as Biarce had unwillingly committed himself to his own downfall…

End Flashback…

"By the gods… What have I become?" said Biarce as if in a panic.

A/N: I finally have this story rolling again after a whole year, oh, man, now I feel the need to complete this more than ever! By the way, Secret Murderer, if you're still around, I understand why you like Louis and Claudia so much, it was really kinda cute when I read it.


	14. Origins pt IV

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 14: Origins pt. 4

Biarce left the slaughter by the staircase and pressed on.

He arrived at a small chamber, beyond which lay an opening and above it, was a red eye symbol, but before he could go in, he noticed yet another one of those golden plates like the one at the overlook facing Tiamat, this time, it held a different inscription, stating that it was a vision of the recent past- it showed Ishtar emerging out into the heavens, and was seemingly preparing for a battle…

Biarce entered the next room, this time filled with brightly colored eye designs dotting every square-inch of the walls, ceiling and floor. Biarce knew there would be traps about, and the unusual feel of the corridor was no doubt one of those traps. Biarce first took out a little pebble from the floor, and then he threw it at a green eye, what happened after that was a long spear burst out from another green eye at the wall, then it retracted back, Biarce took another pebble, then he threw it at the purple eye, what happened was a short burst of fire from the ceiling. Biarce pondered a moment, and then he remembered the red eye design at the door, and how he noticed the red ones were _always_ _on the floor._

Biarce, taking a leap of faith, jumped out onto the red one… nothing happened, alright, he was clear to go, just twenty steps to get to the other end, and he was home free! Well, maybe not.

Biarce went on for a bit, suddenly he heard something slam behind him, and saw that a wall with spikes of different materials- bone, wood and metal, appeared and was slowly making his way to him, Biarce had to work fast or he was skewered.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Biarce looked forward and saw that the door on the other end was beginning to close, to Biarce, this felt very awkward, here he was, trying to find the next red eye, and death was closing in behind him, while freedom was beginning to fade away.

Biarce was already at the fifteenth step, and the door was still closing, just five more to go, then already at the eighteenth, Biarce just jumped into the hole of the door, accidentally activating the other traps in the process, and almost getting burned, speared and crushed by the traps, but he made it.

Biarce stepped into the next room; here, he found it to be very squarish in appearance, with a grid pattern on the ground, and there, seemingly waiting for him, was a mysterious cloaked man, draped in a dark blueish color, with a costume consisting of a cloak and leather straps.

Biarce looked at the man, suddenly; the man looked up from the bent position of his head, and revealed his face: a blood-red face vaguely resemblant of Astaroth, with a short stubble around his cheeks, and a short pair of horns protruding from his head, which appeared to be bald, he was a demon, no doubt of that.

Then, Biarce asked, "And you are…?"

"Why not settle this with actions before words, warrior?" responded the demon, "…and then maybe I'll tell you."

Suddenly, an array of spinning circular saw-blades emerged and seemed to be running along the grid lines of the room.

Biarce scoffed, "Heh, so… I'm in for another fight, huh? I guess this means your one of Astaroth's goons, aren't you?"

The demon responded, "I'll tell you, if you can beat me…" then the demon drew out a nasty looking staff with guillotine like blades grafted on both ends.

Biarce looked at him, a bit impressed, "Alright, I guess I'll just settle for you then!"

Then both combatants jumped into the death-trap arena, careful to watch out for the spinning death blades around them.

They landed on one square of the grid, then proceeded to duke it out in a melee, after that, the two jumped away on separate squares, the two combatants locked eyes for a moment, then they jumped for each other again, Biarce lunged at him with his snakes, but the demon grabbed them with his staff and kicked Biarce in the face, sending Biarce towards a spinning blade, but luckily, Biarce managed to get his feet in between the blades and jumped back for the demon, where he punched at him, but the demon dodged and tried to slash him with the blades of his staff, Biarce caught the staff quickly enough then hit the demon in the abdomen with his optional dagger, Biarce then kicked the demon into the side of another saw blade and then the demon was continually rammed one after another into the other blades until he reached the wall. The demon gripped at his wound as Biarce looked at him with a smug.

Then the demon said, "Hmm… Lord Astaroth was right, you really are as strong as the legends tell you to be."

Then Biarce asked, "You still haven't told me who you are, you really wouldn't want me to keep calling you Astaroth's pawn, do you?"

Then the demon replied, "I'm not a mere pawn! I am his most loyal and trusted General who led his troops to the forefront at Persepolis, and I was also the one who led that Sea Dragon horde to attack you a few weeks ago as well, I am Barbatos! And know this Biarce, so long as you draw breath in this wretched citadel, I shall soon be the one to slice your throat and serve your blood at my Master's victory party!"

Biarce retorted, "My blood is not worth you or your Master's taste buds, pal! Challenge me all you want, your just wasting my time!"

The demon, looking a bit vexed, begrudgingly decided to leave Biarce as the victor for this battle, "Hmph, hopefully, he'll get better, if it's one thing I loathe; it's not getting the right challenge for me."

After getting past this room, Biarce arrived in another, but duller corridor that looked more like a cave, in this cave, Biarce encountered a pair of large pillars that opened into the next room.

Biarce entered the next room after this, this room was duller than the previous ones, resemblant of a mine shaft, with a hole above the ceiling for light, and some scaffolding to hold the walls in place, Biarce looked ahead, and saw that metal bars prevented him from getting in further. Biarce looked around, in the middle, was a large hole leading into what appeared to be a pit, maybe he needed to find a means to open the bars from down here.

Biarce fell in, and found himself in a sort of cavern, here, he looked around and saw that soldiers from Persepolis sent to retrieve the Chaos Urn were fighting against the Temple guardians on ledges to the sides of the walls with a large chasm separating them, zombie sentries armed with sturdy armor and wicked-looking swords pounced onto the soldiers, although they fought well, it was only a matter of time before the fatigue set in, and the undead defenders had little to no life left, and as such, could fight on forever.

Biarce's objective from this point, was to open up the switch on the other end of the chasm in this cave, he would need to in order to open the bars back upstairs.

He clung onto a rope, and began his journey across, but then, a group of zombies came charging from behind him, following him across the rope, Biarce had no time for them, so he continued on his way, finally, after arriving at the end, Biarce cut the rope he came through and sent the zombies to their end. With the lever, Biarce pulled on, and the bars should by now be open by this time.

And just when he thought he was stuck because he cut the rope, a series of platforms emerged from under the pit, creating a sort of bridge.

Biarce crossed, and made his way back up, and entered another tunnel, this time, it led to a well-lit pit, with large poles sticking out of the darkness and turning gears spinning around them.

Biarce jumped on these gears in order to reach the next platform, but was assaulted by more guardians: silver-haired werewolves armed with torso armor, enhancing their constitution somewhat, Biarce stood still, albeit his feet were moving along the gears in order to keep watch over the beasts.

Two of them then pounced on Biarce, Biarce responded by launching his Namtar Serpents out and tore a chunk out the shoulder of the first, killing it, and beat the second one by grabbing its jaws and prying it wide open, breaking the jaws, then another three jumped for him, but Biarce grabbed a nearby gear with his own strength and threw it at the other three, pinning them to the wall in a bloody mess, and as for the final one, Biarce grabbed it by the neck and rammed its head in between the gears, crushing it without any effort.

After a while, Biarce found himself in another room, which had polished copper pillars and walls, and inside, another diary of the architect, and a sarcophagus toward the end wall, Biarce stepped up to the diary and read the architect's second entry about the Temple.

_Welcome,_

_In this room, here lays my first-born, my dearly precious son._

_In a test of loyalty to the gods, I let my son become lost in the terrors of this place, and he perished._

_But even so, my faith towards Ishtar shall never fade,_

_For my son holds the key to press on within him._

_Arathos Velken IX_

_Chief Architect and Loyal Servant of the Gods_

Biarce could see that perhaps the architect was indeed a madman, but was it possible he may still be alive?

Biarce walked towards the sarcophagus, as he got closer, he looked at the polished stone casket that lay before him, among other things, it was built into the floor so there would be no way to remove it anywhere.

Beyond the sarcophagus was the relief of a large stone skull with a hole on the forehead built into the wall behind the sarcophagus.

"Key to press on?" Biarce thought about what the diary just said, maybe it was a clue…

Biarce then grabbed the lid of the sarcophagus and dragged it off of the casket. Once the Sarcophagus lid went down and shattered on the floor, Biarce looked inside, there, lying in a moldy, rotten pile, was the architect's dead son, the smell of his corpse was unnaturally rancid, and his body had been reduced to decayed flesh and tattered clothing, Biarce walked into the sarcophagus, trying to find this "key" the architect mentioned in his entry.

Biarce examined the body, placing his feet at the sides of the corpse, then, realizing what the key was after examining the look on the stone skull's hollow, Biarce placed his right foot on the chest of the corpse and put both his hands on the head, and then he tugged fiercely on it, pressing down with his foot and finally ripped the skull from the shoulders.

Biarce then walked towards the skull relief and placed the dead son's head into the slot on the forehead, and as he did, he felt a tremor behind him, and as he looked, he saw that the floor in front of the casket had opened up to reveal a long winding staircase into the lower floors of the Temple, and Biarce took it, pushing forward on his mission wherever he is led.

Biarce followed another long stairway down, leading to an open passage into the side of the mountain he was in, following a road that snakes around the mountainside, Biarce walked on until he saw a familiar figure waiting for him on a wide open balcony: Barbatos.

Biarce looked over the demon, "So, you still want to spar, huh?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot stop, until I've completely destroyed you!" then Barbatos brandished his staff yet again.

"Nice trick, now watch me!" Then Biarce brought the Serpents of Namtar and the two snakes fused together, as they did, a massive broadsword formed out of them, a very wide blade with about five serrations near the base and an arrowhead shaped tip, the blade also gleamed purple to accommodate its energies.

"This blade may look massive, but I assure you, it's as light as light can get…"

Barbatos boomed, "Enough! Let us finish this, here and now!"

Barbatos dashed towards Biarce, the demon swiped his staff over his head, and Biarce dodged and swung his sword to his opponent's waist, Barbatos easily jumped this and did a helm breaker to kill Biarce, but the latter raised his sword to block this attack, after which Biarce slammed Barbatos to the ground with.

Biarce looked at his knocked out opponent, until Barbatos suddenly rose up and somersaulted a good distance away from Biarce, "You're not bad, for Astaroth's pawn…" said Biarce mockingly.

"Shut it! I'll show you what it means to be Astaroth's greatest servant, feel my hellfire!" and with those words, Astaroth unleashed a volley of fireballs at Biarce.

"How original…" thought Biarce, then he simply blocked all of the fireballs using his blade, "What!?" shouted Barbatos, "You need more practice…" then Biarce launched the burning orbs back at Barbatos.

BOOM!

After that, Barbatos was propelled off the balcony, cursing Biarce for defeating him, and shouting something like, "Next TIME, Biarce! I swear I'll beat you next time!"

Biarce made his way around the cliffs, ultimately realizing that he had circled around the entire mountain, as he could see the head of Tiamat as he had shimmied around a wall, after a while, Biarce decided to take another breather, this time, sitting down against the walls of the cliffs, but right afterwards, he heard a voice, a very female, mystic voice.

"Hello Biarce, It is a pleasure to meet you…" It was Tiamat.

"Tiamat? Why are you speaking to me?" asked Biarce.

"Oh, no particular reason, the various adventurous souls that meander through here often do not wish to even converse with me, passing me off as a typical monster that simply cannot be trusted…"

"So why speak with me?" asked Biarce.

"You're not like the others; you have indifference, something that I do not usually sense from the other wayward souls that venture in this place, so I thought maybe you could chat with me…" said Tiamat.

"Chat, huh? Alright, what do you want to talk about?" asked Biarce.

"Well, for one thing, why are you here? And why do you have within you such an aura of burning determination, and not that of cowardice, as you fought your way through the temple?"

"Because… I have a mission to complete, and the reward for this mission… is something I cannot give up under any circumstance…" replied Biarce.

"Circumstance?" asked Tiamat.

"I do not wish to speak of it, and I also have no intention of providing a reason…" said Biarce.

"Have it your way. But if I were you, Biarce, I wouldn't trust those over-bearing gods of the Pantheon." said Tiamat.

"And why not?" asked Biarce.

"Biarce, don't be ignorant, you have no idea what is truly happening in the Pantheon, and why would you think they would care what might happen to you? You've fought your way through without their help for this long, after all…"

"Right now… It doesn't matter whether they do or not… and what do you know about the gods so much?" asked Biarce.

"A friend of mine, his name was Silgel, and he knows so much more than you think… the kind of knowledge he imparted onto me is enough to convince anyone of what the Pantheon is really trying to achieve…"

"And mind telling me what that is?" asked Biarce.

"No… as much as you deserve to know, the Pantheon has eyes and ears everywhere, we'll talk in a later time…"

"Alright, In any case, I must be on my way." said Biarce.

"Very well, but before you leave, Biarce, I have a favor to request of you" said Tiamat.

"Don't you now? Ask away…"

"If you ever get out of this place alive, promise me you will get rid of this weight on my back!" said Tiamat.

"I shall try, Tiamat, I shall try…" and Biarce went on his way.

Biarce eventually arrived at an elevator near the base of the mountain, built onto a wall next to a balcony, and built on the floor of the balcony was yet another one of those golden plates which showed a vision of the near future- it showed a vision of 9 caricatures of boys, forming a circle around a taller figure emblazoned in the center, surrounded by fire and darkness…

Biarce simply continued on to the elevator, which seemingly lifted him up into the upper regions of the temple, as soon as he arrived, he saw something which stirred yet another piece of memory in him, as soon as he crossed a connecting bridge to the upper levels, he saw a wyvern- a creature resemblant in appearance to dragons, but with a thinner, more lithe body, like a snake, furthermore, they had no frontal limbs, and simply possessed hind legs and large leather wings, the face itself was also more serpentine than draconian, even the trademark fangs are in place.

To Biarce, the wyvern was a warning, and also yet another reminder of his past…

Flashback…

As Biarce lay at the feet of the Barbarian Warchief, wounded and on the brink of doom, Biarce called on the mighty Demon God Astaroth to assist him…

"Astaroth! Strike down my enemies, and my life… is forever yours!"

With those words, time froze over the battlefield, and Biarce was taken to a desolate wasteland, all alone, with ashen black Earth beneath him and a foggy mist above, suddenly, the heavens roared as it burned with fire, and the Earth split asunder, emerging from the bowels of the Underworld himself, was Astaroth, in all his glory, as he stood before Biarce, who was now kneeling before Astaroth's presence, he sensed the potential of a Demon God in the young warrior, and promised to not only save Biarce from certain death, but to also train him to become the greatest warrior the world would ever see.

All that was required of Biarce was a simple pledge of undying servitude, "My life… is yours, Astaroth, from this moment onward, I shall carry forth your will…" And with those words, his fate… was sealed.

Astaroth then performed as promised, unleashing the power of a demon into the battlefield, killing all of Biarce's enemies in the most imaginative of fashions: Some were lifted up and had their spines snapped in two, others had their heads explode like fresh melons, while even more self-combusted into flames.

As for Biarce, no mere sword and shield would befit Astaroth's new apprentice, and so he called forth from Hell, the wyverns, and bound onto their feet were the Serpents of Namtar- twin mystic snake spirits imbued with the power of death.

They would act not only as Biarce's symbiotic weapons, but also as a reminder of his pledge to Astaroth, and so the Serpents were intertwined into the skin of his arms, the sharp ghost scales of the serpents digging into his flesh in order to become a permanent part of his body.

And as time resumed, Biarce used his new weapons to behead the Warchief, and as the decapitated head flew across the battlefield, the rage of Astaroth burned within…

End Flashback…

The wyvern was now eyeing Biarce, hissing at his sight…

"Wretched beast, I know whom it is you serve!" the wyvern backed away, seeing him prepare the Serpents, then the creature took the corpse he was feeding on and made away back to Persepolis.

"Return to your master! Tell Astaroth that I am his pet no more! tell him… that he is not safe as long as I draw breath, I will find the Chaos Urn, and… and, I will show him just how strong I have become…" this was to be his message to Astaroth, Biarce originally took this mission to redeem himself, but now, now, it was much more personal…

A/N: Okay, still got plenty of work to be done, and I hope I didn't overdo the battle scenes too much, though maybe I did, but… no matter, were getting close, almost, to the end.


	15. Origins pt V

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 15: Origins pt. 5

Biarce continued to climb a great stairway which led up into a chasm in between the mountain, once there, Biarce was given a brief moment of rest. Built into the side of a wall to the right of the narrow passage was a stone relief of the goddess, shedding fresh water from the eyes into a stone basin just beneath, and overflowing towards a drain on the floor, Biarce went towards the basin to take a drink, as while he could last days without anything but air, a breather was more than welcome for him, and Biarce found himself revitalized as he took a sip, then dunked his head in to cool himself, after that, Biarce took a deep breath, and made himself on his way again.

Biarce made his way through the narrow passage; the shade of the mountain was refreshing. Then he arrived at yet another crypt, a round chamber with the sun peering down from a low crevice near the wall, illuminating the stone sarcophagus in the center, and another diary entry.

Biarce walked up to the diary and read the architect's next entry, it read:

_Whosoever visits this chamber, must know_

_That my second son, my last son, perished as his brother did,_

_Even so, I know that my service is for a good cause, and my faith in the gods is still with me…_

_Though… I must admit, that a pang of doubt has at long last struck me…_

_Arathos Velken IX_

_Chief Architect and Loyal Servant of the Gods_

Biarce felt amused by what was written, doubt, hmm? Heh, how easily it would seem, for gods to instill doubt in their followers, Biarce thought perhaps it was a common trait for divinities to inspire such things…

Biarce climbed up and pulled out the lid which kept the second son's body, as Biarce did, the smell was just as bad as the first one, though not as rancid.

Biarce crouched, pulled out the head, and used it as his key on the skull door to push on…

But as he did, Biarce felt the entire temple shift and reposition itself, as if it was all a giant machine…

Outside, the Cremator looked on as he realized Biarce has made it much farther than he had hoped, he looked as the massive temple re-configured itself, impressed at Biarce's progress, "Well, how about that? Looks like he wasn't as crazy as I took him to be…" remarked the Cremator.

"You shouldn't doubt Biarce, Cremator, he's lasted longer than any man ever has ever since that wretch Arathos built this place ten years ago" said Tiamat.

"Perhaps, but I still don't think Biarce will be able to get any further than the Chasms of Madness, he will only find the most horrific of nightmares brought to life up in that place, and what he fought so far in the lower levels as I know will be nothing compared to what he'll fight against up there…" replied the Cremator.

"Let us just see if Biarce can truly succeed where all else have fallen, then" said Tiamat.

"Very well…" and the Cremator took down a corpse impaled on a pole and continued his work.

As for Biarce, the door with the skull relief opened which took him to the upper levels, and arrived at the so-called "Chasms of Madness", a place which, if anything else, would be the last threshold any man would go through before meeting their deaths, Biarce looked as he passed through another narrow passage and arrived at the Chasm, here, Biarce looked at a long, winding path running through the steep cliffs, going up into the mountain's summit. Biarce trekked up, following the path towards his destination, after a while, Biarce heard a noise, a peculiar noise which resembled the footsteps of a marching army, Biarce stopped and looked up the path, there, slowly approaching him, turning from a corner, were the upper level defenders, men who sold their souls for immortality, but for the price of forever becoming the temple's guardians, clad in black garb and with sturdy metallic chest plate, they marched to meet Biarce and impede his march. Biarce looked at his new adversaries with curiosity, as for the defenders, they were wearing polished steel masks, shaped in the form of a scowl, and armed with a pair of swords protruding their backs, and as they arrived, they stopped to examine Biarce, and Biarce looked upon them as well.

After a while of looking, the defenders made their move and charged for Biarce, as for the latter, Biarce drew out his weapons, but first used his ice powers, Biarce showered shards of sharp frozen spikes which easily cut through the defender's armors and made short work out of the first batch.

As the rest of the soulless sentries shoved away their fallen comrades, Biarce brandished his dagger and sword and began fighting through the thundering horde, Biarce rushed for one, dodged his blow and cleaved his legs, then he kicked another in the chest and impaled him by the throat, then ever more so, where he slashed, thrust, kicked, punched, jabbed, and repeated one after the other. Finally, Biarce was at the last one, all alone, his comrades slain by our white-skinned warrior, "You don't deserve being here, so how about I show you out!" then Biarce rushed for the last one, and with a hard kick, sent the last one flying off the cliff and into the desert, never to be seen again, the last sound to be heard, a loud shriek… How deliciously perfect.

Biarce continued until he arrived at a wide gorge separating him from a high ledge above, Biarce noted how this part of the temple was more scenic than others, with a long, flowing waterfall in between the gorge towards the mountain, Biarce also already noticed he was standing on an overlook, and it also didn't take long for him to realize there was someone else reclining behind a pillar towards the edge of the overlook…

It was a lithe, blue-skinned tattooed taller-than-average man with blond hair, wearing a leather loin-guard and carrying a nasty kind of staff with a pair of hook blades on each end appeared before him, then the mysterious figure threw the staff into the ground and jumped to pick it up in an acrobatic fashion, twisting and twirling it above his head before assuming a fighting pose, Biarce was impressed, this one seemed like a real challenge now, just what Biarce was looking for.

Biarce locked eyes with the glowing blue ones of his latest foe, which were very difficult to read what he was exactly thinking because the light of his eyes made it difficult to determine his emotions and his face was purely stoic. Suddenly, he jumped up and brought down his weapon, Biarce blocked the attack only to be kicked in the gut by his enemy, the attacker then proceeded to swipe the hooks of his staff at Biarce again, and Biarce barely had time to dodge them as he was cut by his abdomen by one of them.

The attacker stopped, but twirled his staff around, waiting for Biarce to make his next move, as for Biarce, he was impressed, finally he found an opponent worthy of his skills as a warrior, it was about time…

Biarce drew out his weapons, and rushed for his enemy, the other jabbed his staff on the ground and did a 360 degree kick as he spun around it, and then finished with spearing Biarce, but our favorite black-haired hero grabbed it just in time to throw his foe off the overlook towards the waterfall. Biarce looked down to check on him, and saw that the Warrior was standing on a stone ledge on the falls, Biarce was once again impressed, and then he jumped after him.

The two combatants engaged in a long, evenly-matched melee, the blue warrior Biarce was fighting separated his staff into a pair of separate weapons which he thrust rapidly, Biarce blocked them expertly with his blades, then the two continued trading blows hitting, blocking, kicking, slashing, thrusting and hacking away like no tomorrow, finally, they deadlocked their weapons, with the Blue Warrior kneeing Biarce in the stomach, disorienting him, then the warrior jumped up towards the top of the falls with such inhuman agility, he seemed to have just been lifted up there, but Biarce could top that and jumped just as high, resuming their little duel up on the falls.

"You're pretty good…" said Biarce, complimenting his enemy, who didn't say anything at all, "But I won't hold anything back!" Biarce then summoned his Namtar Serpents, and lunged one at the Warrior, who deflected it back with his staff, Biarce lunged again, but the Warrior deflected it back, Biarce then launched both of them at once towards the warrior, which caught hold of his staff, but the warrior tugged on stronger and pulled Biarce in, where he punched him hard in the gut, but Biarce countered with a kick to his face, then dug his dagger into the warrior's arm, but was repelled yet again, after this, the warrior ran back upstream, and Biarce followed after him.

After a while, they arrived at an underground lake where all the water came from, here, Biarce looked upon the solemn figure standing waist-deep in the water, "So… are we ready to continue this?" asked Biarce, the Warrior simply pointed up, and Biarce noticed long stretches of rope suspended from the top, Biarce took this as their next arena, then the Warrior and Biarce both jumped and balanced on the ropes, the warrior broke into a sprint for Biarce, which resulted in Biarce being flung back, but still kept his balance, the warrior continued to swing his staff at Biarce, fighting with such ferocity and effortlessly keeping his balance all the same, while Biarce was backing away at his assaults, he took the time to examine anything about his environs to give him an edge for this fight.

On the walls were a set of hooks that appeared to be used for grappling onto the walls, Biarce took this to his advantage, he reached out with his Serpents and latched onto the wall, as for his opponent, the Guardian looked from his position and examined Biarce, trying to make out his next move against our hero.

As for Biarce, he was already thinking far ahead, and, swinging across the wall to gain momentum, ran across to reach the next hook, and the next one after that in a continuous motion, examining his opponent just as much as his opponent was examining him.

Finally, the two combatants jumped off their positions and attempted to strike each other, as they did, sparks flew out as Biarce landed back on the ropes while his opponent latched onto the wall, after which they locked eyes yet again, this time, the Guardian jumped out on his own and attempted to take Biarce by surprise, but Biarce punched super hard at his opponent which resulted in the Guardian being smashed into yet another room through the wall he crashed through.

Biarce jumped after his opponent, intent on finishing their battle before Biarce pushes on any further.

Biarce jumped into the next chamber, this time, he was standing on what appeared to be a platform of ashen black stone, surrounded by piping hot lava, Biarce looked on to see that his opponent was now on a narrow bridge suspended above the lava, oh yeah, things were really heating up!

Both combatants ran against one another, ramming their weapons in a deadlock, the two warriors locked eyes in their deadlock, battling for control, pushing and shoving just to get a foothold against the other, finally, Biarce gave a mighty shove, and whipped his serpent at his opponent, but the Guardian bent back to dodge the attack and the two went into another melee, the Guardian struck a horizontal swipe at Biarce's head, but Biarce also bent back and dodged this, then Biarce was about to jab him with his dagger, but the Guardian dodged this with ease, and so they continued this mad melee, striking and dodging and… well, everything when it comes to fights.

Then, they started running through the bridge again, carefully dodging fumes and fire bursts from the lava.

The Guardian continued running towards a wall and rammed it, breaking it open, Biarce followed his opponent into the next room, this time, it was a massive pit, and Biarce found his opponent standing on a series of wooden poles built into the walls of the pit, and beneath him was a massive swirling pool of lava, ominously forming a sort of fiery black hole along with it.

Biarce wasted no time, and jumped down and carefully landed on one of the poles, looks as though this would be his final battle with the Guardian.

Biarce and the Guardian walked around the poles, maintaining their distance and examining each other, finally, the Guardian spoke for the first time, "I would like to die… an honorable warrior, than live as a cowardly Guardian of this place" said the Guardian, more to himself than Biarce, "Don't worry, warrior, for all the trouble you've caused me, you were a good fight, so I'll grant you're request, give me one last battle, and maybe I shall concede."

Both warriors agreed to the terms, on a final condition that they fight as "true warriors" in that they fight using only their bare hands and feet, and struck a fighting pose, ready to put an end to their contest…

Both combatants jumped up towards each other, Biarce delivered a kick, while the Guardian sent a punch, both fighters collided in an inhuman fury, breaking off and landing on separate areas of the grid they were on, then they ran for each other and Biarce gave a punch, the Guardian blocked the attack and followed with a kick, Biarce raised his foot to dodge this, then Biarce did a swiping kick to the Guardians face, but the Guardian was unfazed, then the Guardian spun and did a spinning kick, which Biarce dodged, then Biarce crouched and punched his opponent's abdomen, sending him back a few feet, then Biarce unleashed all his warrior rage out onto his foe, the Guardian, despite his spirit, was utterly exhausted, and all he could do at that point was throw a weak punch, which Biarce easily dodged, then the Guardian used the very last drop of his strength and did a high kick, but to no avail, as Biarce blocked the attack and kicked the Guardian sideways at his face, sending the warrior falling towards the lava pit, but he did not scream, instead he looked at the pit and muttered, "It's finally over…"

Biarce watched as his opponent fell down and openly embraced his fate, as for Biarce, he was somewhat envious; at least his foe got to die in peace…

A rope lowered from above, and Biarce climbed up and out of this place, Biarce jumped out of a hole built onto the side of the mountain, he also saw a series of hooks to grip on which led to a high ledge, Biarce jumped from hook to hook until he reached the ledge, and now the way was clear for him, Biarce walked around the cliff he was on and continued walking, eventually arriving at a long staircase leading into the Temple's Workshop, this is where the architect must be, Biarce climbed the great staircase and walked through a massive, beautiful marble walkway, leading to a small opening at the far end with stairs visible, Biarce walked towards the entrance and up the stairs, and, at long last, Biarce found the architect, or rather, what was left of him…

Biarce entered the personal quarters of the architect, composed of a bedroom in the left wing of the room, and a place to eat, a dining room, to the right wing, in the middle was a large table with blueprints and charts for the temple, and adorning the walls were schematics and instructions detailing the various traps which appear in the temple, but lying on the table right now, however, was the pale, bloody body of the architect, Arathos Velken IX, he was an old man, Biarce takes him for about sixty, with a wrinkled, but clean shaven face, and a fine silk tunic, however, pierced into his heart, and the blood, from the looks of it, was still fresh, so Biarce concluded Arathos must have been killed only a few hours ago…

Biarce also noticed another skull door at the far end of the room, and the disheveled remains of a woman's corpse sitting on a chair facing towards where Biarce came from, Biarce also saw a roll of paper by the side of the now-dead architect, he took it and realized that it was his last diary entry…

_It's over now, it was all pointless_

_In my zeal to gain favor with the gods, I built this place, only to be shunned by my deities_

_Those I served turned and abandoned me_

_I tried everything I could, I sacrificed my children!_

_My wife tried to stop me…_

_Tried to stop the madness consuming my soul! But I didn't listen!_

_So I did it! I killed her!_

_But… it was only then, I realized…_

_The gods gave me up, abandoned me, and shut me in this place, I realized…_

_I was just a pawn, an expendable pawn, forced to live here, and so justice was served…_

_To the gods…_

_For those who find me here, know that I am finally at peace…_

_For whether Heaven or Hell, I shall NEVER forgive the gods and my faith ENDS HERE!_

_Arathos Velken IX_

_  
Chief Architect and NO LONGER Loyal servant of the Gods_

How about that? The old fool actually had enough sense to turn atheist, Biarce was, yet again, impressed by the god's inability to make long-lasting disciples from famous people, and he chuckled at the idea…

Biarce continued and tore the skull of his wife clean off her shoulders and made his way to the skull relief, and the path to the Titan Altar, the resting place of the Chaos Urn, was now open, at long last, Biarce's trek into this light-forsaken place would finally end…

Biarce came into a flat, wide black platform, a storm was beginning to brew from above, and as for where to go next, Biarce saw he finally reached the mountain summit, with an entrance formed by a relief of Ishtar's mouth Biarce stepped inside, only to find a rather well-expected surprise: Barbatos

"So… still want a piece of me, huh?" said Biarce.

"Like I said, I shall not stop until I've completely destroyed you!" said Barbatos.

"Suit yourself, but you're really starting to get kinda old pretty quick with your constant interference…" said Biarce.

"Don't worry, I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve," then Barbatos pulled out a sort of card and threw it into the air, in moments it flickered with purplish lightning, then the sparks created two humanoid figures, reshaping themselves into demons not unlike Barbatos, one had red skin and three thick fingers, furthermore, he had a younger face than Barbatos, but had a long goatee twirled into a beard-braid of sorts, his clothing resembled Egyptian garb, complete with kilt and headdress, the other, however, looked older than Barbatos, but had similar features: red skin and three fingered hands, this one had a more Norse/Viking type appearance, with a helmet adorned with horns that twisted into the infinity symbol, heavy chain mail armor, and sturdy leather boots. The Egyptian demon was carrying a pair of twin saber swords, while the Viking one had a massive mace-club.

"Allow me to introduce you to my brothers," then Barbatos pointed to the Egyptian one, "This is Aamon…" then Barbatos pointed to the Viking one "…and this is Rashaverak."

"How about that? Now you come with reinforcements, that's kinda cheap, isn't it?" said Biarce mockingly.

"Silence dog! Together, we are Astaroth's finest!" bellowed Barbatos.

"So I see, finest annoying servants ever," said Biarce with a snicker.

Barbatos snapped, "Okay that does it! Brothers, let us get him!"

Then the three demons rushed for Biarce, "Serpents, fuse!" and Biarce fused his Serpents into the massive sword from his previous fight with Barbatos, then he dashed out for the demons as well.

Biarce dodged a swing from Rashaverak's club, then jumped above a sweep to his feet by Aamon, and went directly for Barbatos, ready to stab his sword at the demon, but Barbatos managed to parry his blow, Biarce turned to defend against Aamon and Rashaverak from hitting him, but Barbatos kicked him hard in the back and sent him rolling back a bit, Barbatos then jumped up and tried to smash our hero, but Biarce rolled and missed the impact, then Biarce jumped up in time to knee-strike Rashaverak as the demon came for him with club raised, Aamon brought his two sabers together and sent a chain lightning attack at Biarce, Biarce ran around the room, dodging all the lightning bolts in the process.

Biarce then found himself surrounded by the demon brothers when Barbatos tried to hit him, Biarce blocked, Rashaverak joined in, and Biarce still fought bravely, it was when Aamon joined the fray that our hero found himself surrounded, he blocked Barbatos's attack, missed a hit with Rashaverak, and was pushed back slightly by Aamon's spell-casting.

Finally, Biarce found himself trying to hit all of them at once while being careful not to lose momentum, finally, Biarce did something a little unexpected, as the brothers tried to strike him with their weapons simultaneously, Biarce ducked and they clashed each other's instead of at Biarce, Biarce then did a sweeping-kick and launched the fireballs Ares gave him at the three demons, exploding and sending them crashing for the wall.

As the brothers tried to regain their composure, Biarce jumped at Aamon and plunged his blade into the demon, sending Aamon back into the Underworld, "Aamon!" shouted Barbatos.

Then Biarce ran for Rashaverak, the latter managed to swing his club, but Biarce dodged and punched Rashaverak in the gut, making the demon cough out one gallon of demon blood, then Biarce cast his freezing spell and cast a cold chill inside Rashaverak's body, turning it into a half-frozen fossil, Biarce then kicked rashaverak's head which tumbled out of the demon's shoulders and shttered like glass in blood and frost.

Finally, Barbatos rushed for Biarce, "I shall have vengeance for my brothers!" he shouted.

Biarce simply punched the demon so hard Barbatos was flung back a ways.

As the demon staggered up, Biarce walked towards him, slowly, with such an empty face that it seemed certain Biarce was letting the silence in the room say, "I'm going to kill you…"

Barbatos immediately changed in attitude to the cowardly pawn of Astaroth that he truly was, "Please! Have mercy! I was only following orders!" said Barbatos, Biarce, surprisingly, turned and left, seemingly leaving Barbatos alone.

However, as Barbatos was crawling away, he saw a ball of flame fly over his face, "What, NO!"

BOOM!

And all which was left of the demon was a black pile of ash in a vague human shape, which dissipated into the air; Biarce looked with an evil expression at where Barbatos once was, and then proceeded into the Altar.

Biarce finally reached the Titan Altar's chamber, here, he found a massive bronze globe with a statue of Ishtar with hands opened towards it, as for the chamber, it was a small overlook looking out into the stormy sky, the domed roof held in place by pillars.

Biarce also noticed yet another golden plate similar to the ones he found earlier, only this one told about the distant future, it showed an image of Ishtar locked in combat with the image surrounded in fire and darkness from the previous plate, Biarce ultimately realized these plates were some kind of prophecy, telling a story about Ishtar and her ultimate fate in the universe, these all seemed a little conspicuous, but he couldn't quite place it…

Biarce returned his attention to the bronze globe before him, Biarce noticed a bar of iron attached to the side, and he inferred it to be a lever, Biarce grabbed hold, and pulled, as he did, the globe opened up like an orange fruit sliced at different sections, flattening to make room for the treasure it kept inside itself: The Chaos Urn

Biarce looked at the peculiar relic, it had a round body, but it had the image of flames glistening on its surface, like it was glass and inside were blazing hellfire in massive quantities, the lid was a dark brass of sorts, with the image of four damned souls screaming etched on it. Biarce continued looking at the object, until the floor beneath him began to sink, and ultimately, Biarce realized it was an elevator.

Outside…

The Cremator was still busy burning bodies, until…

"I sense, the Chaos Urn! At long last, I can rest!" and the Cremator, in that instant, fell on his back, having fulfilled his purpose, he could now die and his soul put to rest.

As for Tiamat, "Well done, Biarce, well done…"

As for Biarce, the elevator he was on stopped, and the wall to his side slid open, realizing that he had come all the way back to the Temple Entrance! How convenient…

Biarce pushed the massive Urn slowly; he could now leave this place…

Turning to look at the Temple Entrance, which was now sealed by a stone wall, Biarce wondered how he can take the Urn back to Persepolis considering that he was inside a mountain chained on the back of a dragon, but hopefully, he'll figure something out…

Persepolis…

As for Astaroth, he was too busy destroying the great city to bother himself with his former apprentice, that is, until the wyvern messenger came with the warning Biarce intended for his former master, the wyvern whispered Biarce's message into Astaroth's ear, then the Demon God himself turned and faced the direction where Biarce was.

Then he spoke towards that direction as if Biarce would hear him, "So Biarce, you've managed to recover Ishtar's precious Urn, but you will not live to see it opened…"

Then Astaroth picked up a broken pillar from the ground, and taking aim, threw it towards the direction of the Temple of Titans, "… I will see to that."

Astaroth then said solemnly "Farewell, Biarce, you were a good apprentice, it's a shame I must be the one to unmake you…"

The pillar flew over the city, the battlefield, the mountains and across the desert and finally, it reached the Temple, the moment Biarce looked up, he was too late as the pillar crashed, impaling him against the stone wall, his blood spattering in great quantities on the floor and walls, and pinning our hero down. Biarce, in his shock and horror, grabbed the massive stone pillar which impaled him and tried to push it off him, but to no avail, it was then, as he tried in vain to escape and as his last drop of life left him, that his past flashed before his eyes one final time.

How could he possibly forget?

Flashback…

As promised, Biarce carried out the will of Astaroth, his past ruthlessness paled in comparison to his new disposition under Astaroth's tutelage, everywhere he went, men, women, children, elders, sick folk, even animals, no one was spared.

All died in the most gory and brutal of manners, and those captured were subjected to the most inhumane of executions:

Men had hot boiling oil poured down their throats.

Women were impaled from their pelvis up through their skulls.

Children were tied on posts and left to be eaten by wolves or worse.

Elders were tied to wooden walls and pelted with flaming arrows.

Sick folk were castrated and beaten to death by clubs and rocks.

Animals were placed in sacks and Biarce's horsemen trampled them endlessly until they died.

No one, absolutely no one, was spared, against Biarce, no one stood a ghost of a chance of coming out alive...

But all that changed, when Biarce raided one particular village…

"This village is one which worships Ishtar!" bellowed Biarce to his troops, "Therefore, this place is an offense against our lord, Astaroth! Burn this place, burn it into ashes!" and Biarce set the entire place aflame.

Biarce's troops killed every single occupant in the houses, while Biarce left for the Ishtar Temple at the far end of the village, but as he did, he was confronted by the elderly village priestess, she tried to warn Biarce, "Beware Biarce, for what you will find beyond those doors is a forbidden threshold…" but her warnings fell on deaf ears, Biarce shoved her out of the way, saying, "I'll finish you off later…" and kicked the Temple door open.

As he did, a mysterious red mist clouded the environs of the Temple, making the attendants who were inside appear like hazy shapes…

Biarce didn't care, he simply walked inside, the attendants tried to stop him, but he made short work of all of them in a flash of crimson blood…

Finally, Biarce made his way to his last victim, still blinded by both the red mist and his own rage, and landed his finishing blow, and savoring at the scream of his last kill, a woman from the sounds of it.

However…

As the mist cleared and his senses finally returned to him, Biarce ultimately realized that he could no longer continue serving his master, for a good reason.

For how could he ever forget… spilling the blood of his own sister?

Biarce looked at his dead sister with horror in his expression, he stuttered, for the first time, confused, scared, and unable to rationalize what has just happened…

Biarce took her body in his arms, looking with sadness in his eyes, "But, how? I… I left her at Babylon! She shouldn't be here!"

Suddenly, the image of Astaroth appeared before Biarce, it spoke "You have done well, Biarce, now that your beloved sister is dead… nothing can hold you back! You shall become even stronger! You shall become… my Angel of Death!" then disappeared.

It was then Biarce finally realized his mistake, and now it cost him… the only family he had left. Biarce took his sister to the altar and laid her there, suddenly, the burning debris crashed on top of her body, and she was no more, Biarce turned and left the burning temple.

Biarce came out of the temple, dazed and confused, suddenly, one of his soldiers walked up to him, "Sir, are you all right?" he asked.

Biarce suddenly had an angered expression on his face, and, without warning, killed the soldier, and then he proceeded to kill his entire army in a fit of rage, "Sir! What are you doing!?!" shouted his troops, but before they knew it, they were all dead, every single one of them.

As dawn came, Biarce was standing on a pile of corpses, what was left of his once glorious army, and Biarce tore it apart in just a few hours…

The elderly village priestess came to him, and Biarce looked at her with the saddest face EVER.

Then the priestess spoke, "From this moment forward, your heinous crimes and terrible deeds shall be visible to all!" then, with a wave of her hand, a white snow-like substance flew towards Biarce, and swirled around him, seemingly mocking him, "Do you see, Biarce? These are the ashes of your deceased sibling! From this day forward, let this hour be one of reckoning, for what remains of your sister shall now fasten itself to your skin, never to be removed, a mark for all to see!" And in that instant, the ashes of Biarce's sister magically attached themselves to his body, bleaching his skin into a ghostly white color, the symbol of his crimes, and it would stay with him for all eternity…

End Flashback…

But in the end, this last look at what he had done to his life was all for naught. Astaroth's wyvern servants came into the Temple, and claimed the object meant to kill Astaroth- the Chaos Urn, for their master instead, flying away with the ancient relic, Biarce struggled, trying desperately to break free and stop them, even shouting out "STOP!!" but in the end, it was a wasted effort.

And so it was that Biarce's cursed, wretched soul was cast into Hell…

End of Chapter

A/N: What do you think Secret Murderer? Astaroth finally took care of his former apprentice by himself, and, I know this chapter was a little too action oriented, but I was facing time restraints so I had to improvise, this chapter was meant actually as two separate chapters, but I figured both of them were too short, so combined them into this instead, oh yeah, and as for Prince, he has a much more major role in the story, I won't reveal to you WHAT it is just yet, it's better that way so it would come as a real "surprise".


	16. Origins pt VI

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard blah-blah-blah

Episode 16: Origins pt. 6

Biarce found himself swirling through darkness, his body freely floating across the vast emptiness of this feeling, it felt like it could never end, but nothing is eternal…

Biarce opened his eyes to the sound of shrieks and cries, and as he did, he witnessed the other souls of those felled by the Demon God fall all around him, he then glanced beneath him and saw the river Styx, red as the blood of men, obscured by a fine and thick mist, its currents enough to plow even the most hardiest of creatures to their inevitable fate.

But Biarce's fate was not to be decided amongst the ranks of the dead and damned. Before he fell into the bloody river, he grabbed hold of a soul clinging onto the ledge of a precarious platform jutting out of the river, "Let go, wretch! I will not be sent to the pits of that accursed river!!" shouted the soul. Biarce finally had enough of this, and, with little regard for the poor soul, Biarce lunged his dagger into his spine, which caused the wretch to squeal in pain, Biarce then climbed over him and made his way to the top, but the wretch grabbed onto his ankle, demanding to be helped up and escape with him, Biarce turned to look at the fool impeding him, only to be met with a familiar face.

"You again!?!" It was the ship captain he left to die inside the sea dragon gizzard back at sea, what a coincidence, Biarce had to admit, for a gluttonous lecher, he was able to hang on for dear life for several weeks at a time, now that's something to comment about.

But… a lecher is still a lecher, and with a tug, Biarce shook him off, the captain tried to grab hold again, but was kicked away by Biarce, that would be the last time Biarce would ever meet with him as the ship captain fell into Styx, screaming away his last breath.

Biarce now had to find his way out of the Underworld for himself, and so readjusted his bearings, he also threw off his tunic, which was torn from the wound Astaroth inflicted on him, and was now bare shirted, exposing his bleached white skin in full detail, Biarce went towards the other end of the platform, as he did, the floating, magical chunks of rock floated towards and attached themselves to the platform, as Biarce moved forward, more rocks moved closer to form a bridge to a large floating rock across the distance.

Biarce arrived at the rock, and where he found himself, he found a door built into the large stone object, which he entered. Biarce found himself upon the top floor of a large circular chamber, it had a few overlooks built around it, protected by large iron bars, Biarce approached one of these overlooks, feeling an ominous presence as he drew close, Biarce looked down into the chamber of this place, and saw an unusual, odd-looking beast down below, crawling along what appeared to be an arena, it appeared to be very odd indeed, it resembled a large lizard with fleshy red skin, with a long, spear-shaped head, it had a series of plates, metallic rather than bone, covering sections of his head, nape, back, and tail, speaking of which, was rather flat, and was wide as a small car, the eyes of the creature was as blue as ice, and could've chilled any man who witnessed them down to his bones…

Not Biarce though, he just eyed the monster with an empty look, but for his evaluation of the creature, he could tell it was a powerful and formidable being, as it was his trait to easily evaluate and assess the strengths and weaknesses of anyone and anything, man or beast, warrior and monster.

The monster suddenly noticed Biarce and roared out an unintelligible language, which Biarce inferred to be the archaic language of the demons, it went like: _Solt ihsdaam! Eprpaer on lefe het woerp fo ym gmith, dnu het lloyf fo ru seohp!_

Biarce did not understand a single word it said, but his wonder for the creature's speech was cut short when the lizard-like monster crawled up the wall, it's face projected towards Biarce, and, it's mouth suddenly opening and charging with a sort of lightning energy.

The monster, (A/N: I'll just call him Iromoruk, since that was the name I intended to give him) discharged the energy in his mouth, this struck Biarce hard and threw him back to the wall, Biarce coughed when he realized the lightning bolt also released a putrid gas which crippled his insides. To escape this, Biarce jumped into a stairwell nearby, for the meantime, Biarce could recover himself from the beating that just occurred, and it also gave him time to think about how to defeat the beast, given that it was very fast and could crawl on walls, in addition to his own natural weapon, this aggravated him to no end, and he broke part of the wall next to him, which broke into sharp stones before his eyes, and it gave him an idea…

Biarce grabbed the stones and proceeded to the lower floor, there, he found a broken area on the wall which gave him a good all-round view of the area, and the monster was still looking for him at the window from the top floor, with a steady hand and a firm grip, as well as an eagle's eye, Biarce aimed the first stone at the creature's unprotected left front leg, which was a success, and the monster released his grip on the wall, then Biarce threw the other sharp stone at his front right leg, and the monster also released his grip on the wall, with only two legs to hold him up, the creature lost balance and fell to the floor, HARD.

Biarce jumped down to the ground fall, and landed on the belly of the beast itself, Biarce took out both of his blades and dug them into his chest, resisting the forthcoming flow of black blood jetting out of the creature.

After that, a magic portal appeared before Biarce in the form of a distorted mirror, Biarce walked into the mirror and found himself on a black land bridge connecting the arena he was in to a higher area of ground above him, after a while, Biarce was on a final platform leading up to the surface, escape was near, but he had one last impediment to his freedom from this foul place: Barbatos.

"Again, huh? You know, I can keep this up as long as you can," said Biarce.

"Don't worry, I promise you, this will be the final time we shall ever have to face, Biarce," said Barbatos venomously.

"Well, that's a twist, better than that 'Not stop until you've beaten me' gig you pulled a few moments ago."

"Of course, but allow me to show you my ultimate weapon," then Barbatos brandished a green eye from his cloak, "Behold, the Eye of Nergal! With this artifact, I shall be granted the greatest power of all the demon realm! Prepare for your annihilation, Biarce!"

Barbatos slammed the unusual artifact into his forehead, blood flowed out, and for a moment, there was silence, suddenly, the Eye of Nergal pulsated with its inner demonic magic, it worked its way into Barbatos' body, flowing into the pathetic creature's veins like a wild flood. Barbatos mutated a pair of transparent green wings made of metal and suspended by scythe blades; his body patterned a set of glowing tattoos across being, and he developed a very SHARP appearance.

"Ready to perish?" asked Barbatos in his grand, near alien voice.

"Nice look, perfect when I rip you into shreds, now, shall we begin?"

"It'll be you who becomes shreds, Biarce! En Guarde!"

Barbatos jumped up and smashed the floor beneath Biarce, sending our favorite warrior flying up and over the ledge, nearly falling into Styx, but Biarce lashed his Serpent out in time to grab the ledge and pull himself up, and not a moment too soon, Barbatos nearly hit him with a green flare which violently exploded as it collided.

Biarce landed back on the platform, but had to turn fast enough to dodge an incoming long spike which almost pierced the back of his skull, after that, the battle paused for a while, and Biarce looked at his opponent, confidently retracting his spike back to his palm, "Hoo, you've gotten good, but demon power can never match true strength, Barbatos!" exclaimed Biarce.

"Correct, but as you know, this is the only power I know will and can be able to finally crush you into the ashes of history," bragged Barbatos.

"Well then, give me your best shot, Barbatos, cause I know I'm going to win," said Biarce proudly.

"You, your bravado seems eternal, Biarce, when will you realize that as a mortal, you can never truly equal the power of the demons?" asked Barbatos.

"First off, I make no attempt at bravados, Barbatos, and secondly, I'm not your equal, I'm your better!" said Biarce boldly.

"Hmph! We shall see!" then Barbatos dashed for Biarce at such a fast speed Biarce didn't have time to defend, and pierced our (anti)hero through his abdomen, landing a fatal wound and seemingly killing him, "Farewell, Biarce, I told you this would be our final encounter, it's a shame a warrior like you couldn't join us, our conquests would have been glorious…"

"What good is glory when the more valuable assets of life are used as payment?!"

Biarce's voice suddenly rang clear around Barbatos, and he turned and saw Biarce right behind him! "You, how!? Unless…" then he turned to see the corpse impaled by his hands was nothing more than an illusion, which dissipated into nothingness.

"And yes, Barbatos, this will be our last encounter, and for the longest while, I never ever really liked you anyway!" then Biarce summoned his Serpent Blade and formed the Namtar Edge sword, (A/N: I only just decided the name) and struck the blade hard across Barbatos, then Biarce jumped and with his feet on the chest of the demon, tore the scythe wings clean off his back, and crippled the demon by swiping the blades of the wings across Barbatos' knee, causing Barbatos to fall to his knees in pain.

"How do you like that? And the thing is, I never actually mastered that phantom decoy until you inspired me…"

"What? How?" asked Barbatos.

"I dunno, you just did, now, what to do with you?" said Biarce thoughtfully.

"Oh please! Have mercy!" groveled Barbatos, yet again.

"Oh Barbatos, you make me laugh, but truth be told, you are incredibly annoying, so I am going to be generous and give you one minute to think of a reason why I can't kill you…" challenged Biarce.

Barbatos was dumbfounded, he tried to find a way, then he thought of feigning betrayal against his master, for surely his lord can protect him from Biarce, not even a mortal can truly defeat a god, yes, that will have to do, "Well, I…"

But unfortunately, his time was up, "Guuuaagggghhh!!!" and Biarce rammed into his forehead and tore out the Eye of Nergal, and just as fast, crushed the Eye on his palm.

Barbatos recoiled in pain as he gripped the bloody hole on his skull, but felt the collar of his cloak gripped by a rough force, revealed to be Biarce, "I'm getting tired of you Barbatos, so unless you perk up and bulk up, you're too pathetic too kill, so I guess I'll be merciful and let you go… to Hell!" then Biarce walked towards the edge of the platform and kicked Barbatos into the River Styx, ignoring his scream and continuing up a steep cliff further up…

At last, Biarce reached the top of the steep mountain, only to discover a dead end, feeling hopeless, Biarce sat on a rock to ponder his next escape plan, until he heard a strange winding sound somewhere, then Biarce looked up from where he was and saw a massive black patch of Earth above him, made of dirt and roots sticking out of it, and a large rectangular hole in the middle, and from the hole, came a large stone block, suspended by ropes, it landed on the ground in front of him, was it… a way out?

Biarce grabbed the rope and began the long climb up, and when he emerged, he found himself… at the graveyard near the Oracle's Temple! And waiting for him was the old gravedigger, but there was something different about him, instead of rags, he was wearing fine royal purple garments, he also had a cleaner face, with young, boyish purple eyes, and a fine lock of silver hair, and perched on his shoulder was a white owl, as white as fresh snow…

(A/N: Yes, Secret Murderer, the old gravedigger is who you THINK he is)

"Like I said Biarce, that grave was meant for you. To come out of, of course, you really didn't think that grave WAS meant for your corpse, did you?" asked the gravedigger, who now spoke in a grand, almost godly voice.

Biarce held a new opinion of the gravedigger, was he an ally, or an enemy? "Who… who are you?" asked Biarce.

"Well, that's an interesting question," then a loud explosion was heard, and both Biarce and the old man turned to the ruined Temple, then faced each other again, "…But for now, you must hurry, Astaroth is near."

"But how did you…?"

"Biarce, do not think Ishtar is the only one watching over you…" then another explosion, Biarce glanced at the Temple, then turned to the old man, but he was gone, suddenly, a voice echoed into his ears, "Complete your task, Biarce, and your future, and your destiny, shall be set…"

Biarce had little time to ponder over the mysterious stranger who had helped him in escaping Hell's gaping void, but the time had come for Biarce to finally accomplish his mission, and to complete his revenge…

Biarce marched into the burning remains of the Temple, walking over fallen debris, and flaming remains, he arrived at the courtyard where he found a familiar person, the Oracle.

But from the looks of things, Astaroth did quite a number to him. He was buried under a large stone pillar, and was lying on a pool of his own blood, however, he had summoned enough strength to talk one last time, "Biarce… returned… but, it's too late, the city has been destroyed… Astaroth has won; there is no hope left, no… hope…" and with those last words, slipped away into the afterlife. As for the city, Biarce could care less; all that was left now was to defeat Astaroth.

Biarce traveled to the secret passage behind the Temple, and emerged behind the seaside area where he began his journey to find the Chaos Urn.

We should take this moment to recall Biarce's trials and challenges he had faced: Biarce had traversed the harsh Desert of Fallen Souls, survived the deadly traps and guardians of the Temple of Titans, and managed to escape Hell itself, (With some assistance) now, only one task was left for him: Destroy Astaroth

Astaroth held his arms up to the Heavens, boasting his superiority to the goddess, Ishtar, in a bout of glory, his ego and hubris at their strongest, "Ishtar! Do you see what us demons are capable of accomplishing? You cast insults and prejudice against my kind, but look as your once glorious and magnificent city lie in ruins before me! And now, even your Chaos Urn has fallen into my possession, would you dare me to use it against the Pantheon itself?" then he turned his head slightly as he felt the all too familiar presence of his former apprentice, "Biarce, escaped even from the Underworld…" then Astaroth turned back to the sky, "Is this the best you can do, Goddess? You send a broken mortal to challenge me? Lord of Demons!?"

Astaroth's pride was at his max; he never realized Biarce launched one of his fireballs at the chain locking the Chaos Urn, and it fell from Astaroth's hand into the sea…

After countless centuries the Chaos Urn's power was released, the power of many eons flew out and gathered themselves into Biarce, who was blessed by its mystic secrets.

Astaroth watched as Biarce enlarged into the same titanic stature as himself, the power of the Urn granting him the same amount of power as the Demon God.

At first, Astaroth was surprised, then put a face of scorn, "You are still just a mortal. Every bit as weak as the day you begged me to save you from that fatal moment so long ago…"

"I am not the same boy you saw that day, Astaroth!" retorted Biarce, "The monster you've created has come back with one mission: To kill you"

Astaroth laughed, "Monster? Ahahahahahaha! You have not seen what a true monster IS, Biarce…"

Then Astaroth grunted as demon blood sprang from his back, among other things, a strange object was also emerging from him as well, then Astaroth bent over and more blood and another set of objects emerged, and one last time which released the final set, revealing themselves to be five scorpion tails set aflame.

"Hehe, your final lesson is at hand!" then aimed all of them at Biarce, who prepared his Serpents of Namtar for battle.

Both competitors jumped a good distance away before beginning the battle, "Prepare to join your sister, Biarce!" and he launched his first scorpion tail at Biarce, at which Biarce parried with a lash of his own weapons, then they both rushed at each other, hands trying to break the deadlock, then pushed each other away at the same time, then it was time for a melee.

Biarce summoned his Namtar Edge and Astaroth summoned a massive warhammer, with a set of large spikes at the face, and a huge boar head at the rear. Astaroth pointed the boar head at Biarce which let loose a jet of flame which Biarce had to hold back, but surprisingly was not burned, thanks to the Chaos Urn's magic properties, then Biarce jumped and slashed Astaroth, who blocked with his warhammer, they exchanged blows and parries for a minute, then threw off both of their weapons into another arm-to-arm deadlock, "You can't beat me Biarce, I'm far superior than you…"

"We'll see about that," said Biarce.

Biarce pushed Astaroth back, which gave him a small chance to attack, but that was all the time he needed, Biarce stepped on his knee, then grabbed a scorpion tail from his behind and pierced him on the back, then grabbed another and did the same, and finished it by kicking Astaroth in the face as the Demon God backed away in pain.

But Astaroth, being the unfair Lord of Terror he always is, unleashes his ultimate weapon; he cupped his hands and opened a portal to trap Biarce inside the dark side of his mind.

Biarce tried to resist and had his Serpents grip the sea and keep from getting sucked in, but Astaroth strengthened his hold and Biarce was slowly losing his grip, one loosened and flew to Astaroth, the other eventually gave way as well.

Biarce found himself drifting through a space-like vertigo, falling endlessly in a similar manner as the moment he fell into Hell, but he was accompanied by the voice of Astaroth.

"I have taught you many ways to kill men, Biarce, burning flesh, breaking bones; but to crush a man's spirit… is to truly destroy him!"

Biarce then landed hard on his knees on solid Earth, and when he stood up, he found himself face to face with his past…

"Do you remember this place, Biarce? The location of your greatest failure perhaps there is a chance that you can undo the deeds of the past."

The nightmares that had haunted Biarce had at once again taken form and substance, the Temple, the very same image of the night he had slain his sister, was in clear physical shape as he had always remembered it, the flames had done nothing to it at all…

Biarce staggered towards the foreboding edifice, his past stood before him, he leaned on the door, unsure of what to make of what had claimed his vision, but… if the Temple was still in tip-top condition, can it mean…?

Biarce kicked the door open, and he saw…

"Biarce?! What's happening? Where are we?" his… sister?

"What in…? Can this be real?" Biarce was surprised beyond disbelief, was this really happening?

But his thoughts were disturbed as he watched an ominous shadow swirl on the walls, after that, a figure crawled out of the shadow, it was… Biarce?

No, not Biarce, it was a doppelganger, an evil duplicate of oneself, this one looked just like Biarce as he is now, but with crimson red orbs for eyes, and a wild personality of grunts groans and roars, like a savage zombie.

Then more of them emerged from everywhere, surrounding Biarce's sister, "Biarce!" she shouted.

And soon, it all came back to Biarce, all of the suppressed rage & desperation returned to him, everything that he had held back revealed themselves back to him, and he remembered why he kept it back in him for so long, he saved it all… for Astaroth.

"ASTAROTH! There is nothing you can do to stop me! I will save my sister!!"

Biarce jumped into the fray of doppelgangers, and began wrestling with himselves, grabbing one and punching his blood out, then crushing the other one's head into bits, and so on and so forth. The doppelgangers, noticing Biarce, all ganged up on him, but Biarce easily repelled all of them, chopping, slicing, breaking, busting, smashing, all ignoring his wounds and just swiping away at his foes.

The temple around him and his sister was beginning to collapse and fall into vertigo, but it did not completely fall apart, leaving only a small room for Biarce to fit into, but it was alright. Then a swarm of them piled themselves on top of him, but all were frozen on the spot with his spell, and shattered into bloody shards, then Biarce was faced with even more, armed with duplicates of his fireball spell power, but brandished his Catoblepas head and utilized it against them, turning them into stone before they could attack.

There was however, one last that managed to slip past…

"Yaaaahhh!!!"

Biarce turned to see that one of them had gotten past and held a knife at his sister's throat.

Biarce looked at his doppelganger readily, not daring to move an inch, knowing if he made a false move, it was over…

So Biarce… dropped his guard, and the doppelganger threw the knife at Biarce's throat, seemingly killing our (anti)hero but fortunately for him, we all know too well his phantom decoy technique.

As Biarce's corpse disappeared before the eyes of all, he re-appeared behind the attacker and, grabbing his legs, slammed and disintegrated his entire upper torso against the ground, and discarding the remains.

Needless to say, Biarce has accomplished the impossible: he had saved his sister…

"Biarce! Please, let's just go home!" said his sister.

But Biarce was busy gloating to Astaroth, "Do you see Demon God!? You took her from me once, but you will never have her again!!"

Astaroth, however, was self-assured from where he was, "You cannot save her, Biarce. You gave her up in your bid for ultimate power; there is a price to pay for everything and anything we gain, that is the Law of Equivalent Exchange, the universal truth which binds all things together, and you paid it…"

Then Biarce became all melancholic again, "Not that price… I didn't want her to die…"

"NO PRICE WAS TOO GREAT FOR WHAT **I **OFFERED!!!!!!!"

Then Astaroth used his telekinetic powers and tugged forcefully on Biarce's Serpents, trying to yank them off his arm, "You rejected me… A GOD! Now, you have no power, no magic! My final offer for you from this point… is your DEATH!" then Astaroth tore Biarce's serpents off his arms, and, against their will, forced their mouths open, revealing their deadly dark fangs.

With quick speed, they lunged out and killed Biarce's sister, yet again…

"NO!!!" and Biarce broke into another depression, "Not… not again."

But fortunately for him, it was all a dream, the bad news was, it all seemed real, too real.

Astaroth walked up from behind and raised himself on his "tails", raising his stature to "execute" his former pupil, "You should have joined me, Biarce! I could've made you stronger!" Biarce was temporarily in a daze, but snapped back to reality just in time to see… he had not yet lost.

Biarce jumped in time to escape from Astaroth's attack, and jumped to the statue of Ishtar holding the large sword, and in one pull, Biarce yanked the sacred blade off the stone statue, and then walked towards Astaroth with his new armament.

"I still have allies left in this world, Astaroth. Now, you will see just how strong I AM!"

It was now just one last duel, a fight to the finish, and no room for conditional victory.

(A/N: Conditional victory- you know? As in surrender and no death, non-violent ending crap?)

Biarce swung his sword at Astaroth, who blocked the attack, parried the blow and struck hard at Biarce's chest, which sent the warrior a few feet back, then Astaroth jumped a few feet into the air and pelted Biarce with meteors.

As the dust cleared, Astaroth thought he was victorious, but then Biarce suddenly jumped out and, sword raised; aimed for Astaroth, which he was successful, and Astaroth recoiled away in pain, then Biarce continued his onslaught, until Astaroth countered using his scorpion tales to impale on Biarce. This wounds Biarce, but not enough to stop him, even with the injuries, Biarce struck his blade on Astaroth's shoulder, causing the Demon God to recoil again.

Both tugged at the weapons still jabbed onto their bodies, and Biarce was having the time of his life, while Astaroth was trying desperately to get rid of his "dangerous" former apprentice, and getting slightly more distressed.

Astaroth gripped the blade and threw it off his shoulder, which forced him to retract his scorpion appendages. Biarce charged at him yet again, and Astaroth used his appendages to defend the assault, Biarce hit him twice without damaging him due to his shield, then Astaroth parried the blow with his appendages, then pounded his warhammer into Biarce, but Biarce didn't flinch from the assault, and finally, the fierce finale of any great duel-

The Deadlock

Biarce and Astaroth locked both their weapons in a fierce deadlock, whoever wins, this was it, the final moment of their battle, the whole inchalada.

"You cannot win, Biarce…" said Astaroth, taunting Biarce into letting his guard down, "When I'm done, I'll chain you down in Hell with your precious sister!" but, in classic fashion, his plan to gain an advantage… was his biggest DISadvantage.

Biarce pushed harder than ever in his time as a mortal, and Astaroth was at the end of his wits and stamina.

Finally, Biarce broke the deadlock, and finished Astaroth with a side-slash into Astaroth's abdomen, then he pierced Astaroth's chest, and hopping onto his torso, jumped up with the blade and slammed the edge straight across Astaroth's face.

Astaroth recoiled further back towards the sea. Now, completely drained of his powers and facing certain defeat, he had no other option left, but to beg for mercy.

"Biarce, please, remember who it was who saved you… in your time of greatest need…" said Astaroth.

"I haven't forgotten, Astaroth. I remember how you 'saved' me…" said Biarce venomously.

"That night…" then Astaroth reminisced about that night as well, and how, in a strange twist, all these events turned against his favor.

"…I was only trying… to help you become a great warrior!" said Astaroth, pleading his last plea.

" 'Become a great warrior?'… well then… Congratulations!" then Biarce jabbed his blade into Astaroth's throat, Biarce pushed it all the way until the sword's hilt reached the Demon God's throat. Biarce crunched his teeth as he did so, releasing the blade from Astaroth.

Astaroth recoiled away with a grunt, then, in a truly gory fashion, a massive fountain of his demon blood burst from his wound, then, as the last drop fell, Astaroth perished… for good.

Biarce had accomplished the impossible: A mortal KILLING a God, Astaroth was no more…

Astaroth fell into the waters, and from his carcass, his own demon essence, in the form of dark red lights, burst from his remnants, ending in a massive atomic explosion which resounded across the world, signaling the death of a God.

Biarce ultimately found the effects of the Chaos Urn wore off as he found himself swept wildly to the shore…

Biarce lay near lifeless on the shore, and for a moment, he forgot everything that transpired, his past, his sister, his rebellion, his journey for redemption, and his final battle against the Lord of Terror, Astaroth.

Biarce awoke upon the sandy stretch of beach, sitting on his knees, and looking out at the horizon in a daze, it was dawn. Then Biarce almost remembered, but thought it all a strange and unbelievable dream, but needed to know if it all really happened, then he turned to see the water, and he got his confirmation…

There, standing against the orange clouds and sunlit sky, was the sacred blade he used to slay the Demon God, pierced against the bay, blood soaking across its once pristine edge, the mark of last night's battle still clear and fresh. Persepolis had fallen, but the battle had been won, and hope for the survivors was certain.

The same, however, could not be said for Biarce, for as he struggled to rebuild his soul with the help of the Gods of the Pantheon, the truth finally dawned on him.

Biarce returned to his ship, still docked on the harbor, relatively undamaged, to see Ishtar regarding his request.

"Ishtar, please, rid me of the memories that haunt me still," pleaded Biarce.

"Your efforts and actions are commended by my brethren and myself, Biarce, by now the Underworld must be in uproar without a leader, nevertheless, we are forever grateful to you, Biarce. And, by the promise of which I still owe to you, from this day hereon, and for the rest of time, your sins are now forgiven. But I never promised to rid you of your nightmares, no man, not even a god shall be able to forget the terrible deeds that you had done."

And so, knowing that all of his efforts, as hard and as impossible as they were, were all for naught, Biarce returned to the highest bluffs of the cliffs overlooking the sea, then Biarce looked down at the jagged rocks below, it looked as though Hell wasn't as bad as it seemed anymore.

Biarce raised his head towards the sad, dawn-lit sky, and said his solemn epitaph, "The gods have abandoned me…"

Then, raising his foot, "Now… It's hopeless…"

And Biarce cast himself towards his death. After ten years of suffering, ten years of unbearable torment, it would all finally come to an end… death would be his escape from insanity.

But his fate… was not as it seemed.

Biarce fell, but surprisingly, the rocks that would've been his death miraculously now parted and Biarce fell on harmless water instead.

Then Biarce felt himself plucked out of the sea, taken beyond the clouds, and before the throne of Ishtar herself.

Biarce found himself within an ethereal dome, the shining stars set around in a display of awe-inspiring beauty, and within the center of this place, was the shining silver throne of the Goddess herself, decorated in pristine ornaments of gold as a reminder of her status as a being both of and not of this world: A divine Goddess

Ishtar was plainly dressed for being a Goddess, she wore a silver-white dress with a high collar, with no sleeves, a hole for cleavage on her chest, and a high cut along the sides of her skirt, revealing her exceptionally wide hips, and a good portion of her lower torso, as for facial features, she had a beautiful, inhuman face, displaying angelic femininity, and combining the loveliness of a lady with the charm of a young girl, she had white irises with no pupils, and beautiful, long, silk-like hair, overall, she was more than beautiful, as the only word to describe her very being is only one: Divine

(A/N: Sounds familiar, right, Secret Murderer?)

"You shall not die this day, Biarce, we of the Pantheon, me in particular, cannot allow a person who has performed such a valuable service for me to perish by his own hands, therefore, I shall grant you a chance to serve me, for all eternity…" said Ishtar.

"Eternity? And how shall I benefit from this?" asked Biarce.

"Why… Biarce, I can give you something you've lacked for all your life." Said Ishtar.

"And that would be…?"

"Love, Biarce, do you not think I am capable of emotions?" asked Ishtar.

"I will need some form of… demonstration" said Biarce.

"Very well…" then Ishtar stood from her throne and casually sauntered towards Biarce, a playful smile forming on her lips, then she casually went behind Biarce, wrapping her arms around him, one going around his belly, and another with her palm on his shoulder, "Well… how am I doing?" asked Ishtar playfully.

"Good, but not great…" replied Biarce.

Then Ishtar moved to his front and brought both her hands to his chin, then said in an enticing tone, "How about… this?"

Then sealed her seduction of him… with a kiss, how original.

"Now…?" asked Ishtar.

"Do you… really mean it?" asked Biarce.

"Need I do anymore?" asked Ishtar.

"No, I shall… concede." Said Biarce, unsure to make of what to do, he wanted to die, and yet, he knew that Ishtar's feelings were genuine, as a divine being is never deceitful, no matter how they may seem as such.

And so came Biarce's many years of death and reincarnation, he would be Ishtar's greatest champion on Earth, and her one and only lover in death.

It would be a cycle of life and death as Biarce would live through many years of conflict… and so much more.

End Entire Flashback…

Biarce awoke on the peak of Everest, recalling everything that had happened, and how it led him to this moment in time; however, he had been lost in his mind this whole time, never realizing that the white puff was right in front of him during his journey through his own mind and retelling the story of his life towards himself.

But when he did sense her, they locked eyes, not in combat for the first time, but in awe of each other, both were unable to speak, but Biarce, after a few minutes of silence, was the first to break the silence.

"Why are you here?" asked Biarce.

"You're… troubled," said Bell.

"And if I am?" asked Biarce.

"Go…"

"What?"

"If you are troubled… go find somebody who'll tell you how to help."

Biarce was confounded, but sensed a hint of wisdom in her words.

"Are you… helping me?" asked Biarce.

"Just giving advice, you're a major nutcase, y'know?" said Bell.

Biarce decided to put the advice to the test, but didn't know how to start, "What should I do?" asked Biarce.

"Find someone you know who knows what's going on, and ask for his help, that's it," said Bell.

"Alright, thanks… Ishtar," then Biarce flew off.

As for Bell, she transformed into Ishtar before the audience, "How did he know it was me?"

Daemon Bastion…

Barbatos recalled how his proud and mighty master had fallen, he remembered it all too well, and now, all that was left… was his eternal grudge against Biarce.

"Biarce, you shall pay for bringing about the downfall of my master, I swear by the power vested in my position as Daemon Guild Supreme Commander, your blood shall be spilt by my hands!"

Then he turned to the lightwell on the roof, pouring an ominous light into his chamber.

"And you shall assist me, right?" said Barbatos.

"Of course…" said the Light, "I am your Boss, no?"

End of Chapter

A/N: Cliffhanger, no? and yes, Secret Murderer, Astaroth is NOT the "Boss" of the Daemon Guild, as this story is full of surprises, but by now it's time to return to the real world, I can finally get back back to the RRBs and the PPGs! Phew, I'm bushed, well, until next time!


	17. Test of Strength

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Diet Pepsi tastes the same even when you're nude

Disclaimer Disclaimer: But hey, you're nude!

Episode 17: Test of Strength

While Biarce was out recalling his past and trying to recollect himself, Balder had finally been able to persuade the Rowdyruff Boys to assist him, and he also revealed to them some details regarding their involvement in this whole fiasco…

But that will be for another time, meanwhile, Balder and the Ruffs assembled in Alaska, where Balder had learned of the location of one of the members of the Daemon Guild, Hairy Wartfolk.

"Tell us again why we have to do this, Balder?" asked Brick.

"Because there is someone in the Daemon Guild whom I know very well, and perhaps with a bit of force, we can persuade him to join us, after all, we need all the help we can get. But I do not know which place in the world he may be, so we will need to extort that information from one of their other members," explained Balder.

"Oh, all right…" responded Brick.

Balder and the guys had hidden from Hairy's patrolmen in an old abandoned fisherman's shack on the coast, it was pretty rundown but was also the last place they'd come to look.

Balder then laid down a map of Hairy's complex, as well as some background info regarding their target…

It was sometime during the 1800s, in those times, the indigenous people of Alaska had among them, a protector, a guardian who dedicated himself to the preservation of their culture against the wave of colonization and modernization.

However, even men of myths change with the flow of time, and the guardian of the tribe was no different. Taken in and raised by his captors and taught the ways of their cultures, he eventually came to become a part of them more than as a myth to the people.

And so began his new life as Hairy Wartfolk, a Yeti turned human prospector in but a few short years.

However, even with that, Hairy never forgot the ways of the people who believed in him, and still hangs on strongly to their systems…

One day, after discovering the location of a new gold mine, he chose to open it searching for more, unfortunately, Hairy used far too much dynamite in his efforts, and the cavern of where he found the gold collapsed on him, suspending him in some form of cryonic stasis beneath the ice.

He was forgotten for a whole remainder of time, until global warming came into effect across the world, and eventually, Hairy was thawed out, and, having missed out on a whole century or two, continued his modernization of Alaska, and with the technology of our modern world, he quickly speeded up his progress, every tree was cut down, every river dammed and barricaded, and oil was extracted in the millions, all, as Hairy placed it, in the name of his mission, delivering the progress of a great nation by the sharp end of his axe…

One who knows of this history can't help but ponder what he does is wrong or not, as back in his time, he would have been a hero, now, people would call him an environmental criminal, an eco-terrorist, so to speak…

Balder then set his plan in motion; Hairy divided his massive base of operations into three complexes, each having a purpose in his operation of modernization.

They composed of the Trainyard, where Hairy's transport trains are assembled and maintained, the largest of the three, then there were the Oil Fields, where his men dig for oil, and finally, the Coastline Base, the center of his operation, which houses his lumber mills, as well as a harbor where transport ships come to send his harvested goods and distribute it across the world, as well as the fact that Hairy's cabin is also located there.

Balder said that they must coax Hairy into telling them the location of all the other members, as it will be the only way they can continue their progress…

This would require some heavy thinking on Brick's part, since he was the one who organized their plans most of the time, but thankfully, Balder was there to assist.

"All right, we all know that Hairy has the entire place barricaded like Fort Knox, what we need to do is isolate Hairy in an area where we can get at him without any resistance," reasoned Brick.

"Perhaps we can use the trains to our advantage?" said Balder.

"How?" asked Brick.

"We have to first isolate Hairy on one of his trains, as I've heard he owns a private train for his personal use, if we could use it to trap him, we might be able to persuade him of the location of the other members…" said Balder.

"Dudes, how're we gonna do that? I mean, come on, it's like, if its personal, wouldn't he like, have a thousand guards in it or something?" asked Boomer.

"We need not fret" said Balder.

"Why not?" asked Butch.

"We need to devise a plan that will be able to force Hairy into his personal train, furthermore, we need to locate where his bodyguards congregate and incapacitate them" said Balder.

"That will take some reconnaissance work…" remarked Brick.

"We'll split up, Butch, you and Boomer go and check out the Oil Fields, I'll go and survey the Trainyard, Balder can check out the Coastline Base…"

"Sounds like a plan!" said Butch.

"Don't do anything crazy while you're out, Butch" said Brick.

"Hey, 'The Butch' can handle himself!" protested Butch.

"All right, Balder, will you be fine?" asked Brick.

"Of course, I can handle myself well enough," said Balder confidently.

"All right, let's do this!" said Brick.

Balder went and got to the Coastline Base to inspect on Hairy directly.

There, he saw the bulk of Hairy's entire operation, several, massive lumber mills, billowing with smoke from today's lumber harvest to provide never ending energy for Hairy's operation, a lighthouse for his shipping convenience, a garrison for his troops of guards, an armory for weapons, and his docks for loading and unloading his precious cargo.

Balder examined the areas closest to the cliffs and stayed close so as to remain undetected.

Then he found the most unexpected object frozen over in a block of ice:

…A prehistoric Mammoth paralyzed beneath the frost!

"Hmm… All things have their purpose, I think this one will find a new one soon…" thought Balder.

Balder finally reached Hairy's Cabin Quarters, climbing up to the roof, and looking through a fogged up glass window, Balder checked on Hairy, who was speaking to someone on his radio.

"Hello, Hairy old chum, how fairs the noble weather of Alaska?" said a young boy's voice.

"Cold and hostile… But we get a nice view of the Borealis every now and then, so my guess is it's not totally a waste being here, how's it go for you, Mister Goldstar?" asked Hairy.

"Same old same old, guv'ner, though I must say, I believe something amiss is going with the guild…" said Prince.

"Amiss, what might be da' problem sir?" asked Hairy.

"Bloodshot's been having a bit of nightmares for a while, said something about his siblings in trouble, Saru also mentioned something about suspicious activities going on with the 'Boss' and Barbatos and that he hasn't been feeling very secure these days…" said Prince.

"Sounds like trouble, can't have one of us going rogue now, do we?" asked Hairy.

"I wouldn't worry too much Hairy, only time dictates what level of urgency comes upon us, in the meantime, we'd best keep ourselves occupied with our current professions, whomever hinders us in our ambitions, we simply sweep aside…" said Prince mischievously.

"As you say then, Salutations and farewell, Mister Goldstar!" said Hairy.

"Ta ta, Hairy."

What Balder overheard, though not entirely helpful to the current situation, made a unique feeling in his fibers stir, Fate had an outstanding method of dictating one's destiny, Balder had only lightly pull it's strings, playing with the hands of fate itself to create an outcome feasible for his mission, "So, things have already begun to go awry within the Guild? Hmm… this will make my efforts all the more easier, still, this will require careful timing and accurate judgment on my part" thought Balder…

As for Butch and Boomer, they were busy at the Oil Fields, trying to gather any useful options they might use to exploit Hairy and shut him in a corner.

"Dude, like, how're we gonna like know what we're lookin' for?" asked Boomer.

"Do not worry, my blonde comrade-in-arms! We will definitely find the object of our search! Just keep looking!" said Butch.

Boomer and Butch didn't find much, just a storage warehouse for keeping oil, and pumps to dig them out, still, the area was extremely flammable from the looks of it, and any mishap could blow this place to smithereens.

"Hmm… not much to find here, bro" said Boomer.

That is, until Boomer took notice of the fact that the warehouse was beneath a cliff and that the train rails lined the top, which made it somewhat a precarious position to place a train track…

"Hmm… That might be something" then Boomer took out a notebook and pen and wrote down his finding…

Brick, in the meantime, was at the Trainyard Service Depot, where the trains were maintained and repaired, if necessary.

Brick snuck behind one of the guards assigned to the place, and went up the stairs to an office room, "Now let's see what we got here…"

Brick checked along the table for anything that might give him and his team an advantage later on.

He didn't find anything but a laptop and a desk, filing cabinets, and a heater.

"Hmm… there must be something here I can use."

Brick scanned the room, then he turned to the desk and took out some kind of notebook, Brick scanned the pages to find out anything useful…

"Hmm… Oil shipments are at eleven o'clock. Lumber deliveries at four in the afternoon…" Brick found a Train schedule, "Eh, what's this? Emergency Personal Train for Mr. Wartfolk, used only in emergencies… Hmm…" Brick decided to keep the notebook, hopefully, no one will notice, and then he left…

All three boys returned to the rendezvous point, in order to assess what their scouting mission has revealed to them.

Boomer and Butch brought back info regarding the Oil Fields and the precarious position of the railway, while Brick revealed the train schedule and the personal train for Hairy used in emergencies.

Balder, on the other hand has thought of a plan to isolate Hairy, and he and Brick formulated the plan and how they shall go about doing so…

"I'll handle the 'emergency' and get Hairy into his train, while you guys have to disable the other trains on the routes," said Balder.

"I'll see to that," said Brick, with his technical know-how, not even an old train can take his level of sabotaging experience.

"I suppose this means Butch and Boomer are left to infiltrate the train itself?" asked Balder.

"Dude, you think we can?" asked Boomer, uncertain of himself.

"OF COURSE WE CAN!" Boomed Butch, ever the eager beaver he is, and with a "train heist" at stake, he couldn't wish for more.

"Then it's settled, Balder, you take care of the necessary arrangements, me and by bros will plan how to go about the plan," said Brick.

Then Balder said, "Not to worry, I have everything under control."

Later…

Balder returned back to the Base, and began preparations for their plan.

First, Balder infiltrated the armory and, in a quick move, disabled all the weapons permanently, without their firepower, the guards will be more than a little surprised with what Balder has in store for them next…

After that, Balder returned to the frozen Mammoth beneath the ice, "And now my frozen acquaintance, prepare yourself, for I shall grant you the flame of life back into your soul…"

Balder took out his Ziz Blade and, aiming it at the correct angle, aimed a ray of white-hot light at the frozen beast…

At his cabin, Hairy sits down and enjoys a nice cup of hot coffee, pondering to himself about what's been agitating everyone in the Guild.

"Sumthin' ain't right, I can feel it in me guts" thought Hairy.

Then, the alarm went off. "What in tarnashuns…?"

Hairy goes over his radio and inquires about what in the world is happening, "Captain, report!"

"Sir, something's gone loose in the facility, it's trashing the whole place into pieces!" said the Captain.

"What is it?!" asked Hairy.

"I dunno sir, it's some kind of elephant thing, but I never seen anything like it before!" said the Captain.

"Well, get rid of it!" commanded Hairy.

"We can't sir, all the weapons in the armory are disabled, aaaahhhh!!" the Mammoth trumpets out his fury and attacks the helpless captain and smashes his radio, cutting him off from Hairy.

"Darn it! Better get on me train!" thought Hairy.

Balder watches from a steep cliff and watches as the entire base falls into ruins, to think that such a primitive creature could actually cause such chaos. Then he sees Hairy retreating into his emergency train, "The plan… is all set."

Brick had just finished with his sabotage work, doing so the old-fashioned way, smashing up their engines, and for the record, he blew up the whole gasoline depot, then, he switched and manhandled the entire railing, leading to the last place left on the routes, the Oil Fields…

As for Boomer and Butch, they first had to take care of the guards at the Trainyard, but they've already been pacified, so now there would be no more interruptions, as for Butch and Boomer, Brick saved some of the gasoline to create a makeshift bomb, Butch is to land right on top of the back car and blow a hole for Boomer and himself to get in from.

Right on cue, the Train with hairy came about, armed with numerous external weaponry designed to keep invaders, especially the Rowdyruffs at bay, Brick knew they had to use stealth and sneakiness to take this fight, and the bomb came in handy.

Butch, circling high above, found his target, then, he would begin his descent against it, but not before showing off, "Watch and be amazed! The one and only Butch shall strike down and deliver the greatest spectacle the world will ever…"

"Butch, quit clownin' around, man, and put the bomb on already!" shouted Boomer.

"Sheesh, no one apprecitates a good boast these days," thought Butch, as he began his rapid descent towards the train.

As he did so, the weaponry immediately detected him and opened fire. Butch skillfully passed the massive wave of shots aimed for him, and landed precisely at the back car, planting the bomb, then, as he rushed to escape, the explosive detonated as quickly as Butch had just placed it, causing the entire weapon system on board to short-circuit and collapse.

"Now Boomer!" shouted Butch.

Boomer nodded, then braced himself, "All right, here I go!" then jumped from the cliff and landed right inside the train, "Yee ha! Now it's my turn!" Butch was about to enter along with him, but was suddenly shot from above, "What in-?"

Up in the sky, a shark shaped spaceship darted down firing its deadly arsenal at Butch, It was Sandaaru, the last member of Bloodshot's Special Unit, after The Pain and Kurei.

"You're not getting on that train, Butch, I'll see to that!" Sandaaru then began a chase above the train, with Butch dodging his blasts.

Elsewhere, Boomer saw the commotion and also saw that Butch has his hands full for now, so it would seem this became a solo mission now, Boomer went and proceeded further up the train, ready to take on Hairy all by himself.

Butch tried fighting against his current opponent, firing a few blasts of force at him, it didn't do much but bounce off, while Sandaaru fired more bullets and laser blasts, Butch tried to evade, but they were going faster than he can dodge, eventually, two shots hit his arm, "Ah! What's you're problem!" Butch didn't have time to do much else as he continued to fly away from his pursuer.

Boomer finally arrived at the main car, as he was about to enter, he felt an ominous vibration strike his being, like nothing he ever felt before, still, there would be no turning back now…

Boomer opened the door, and found himself face-to-face with Hairy.

"Well, s' 'bout time you showed up, I got nuthin' to do these past couple o' days, so I'm guessin' you want sumthin' from me?" asked Hairy.

Then Boomer asked, "Yeah, some friend of mine wants to ask you about your Guild…"

"Izzat' so? Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt ta' tell ya, but… I'm the Enforcer 'round these parts, so if ya wanna get sumthin' from me, you better fight fer it!" said Hairy, raising his staff and more than willing to fight for whatever info he's got.

"All right, we'll do it your way…" Boomer put up his fighting stance, ready to take on Hairy.

Hairy charged, then Boomer jumped up and over him, "Now I gotcha!" then he turned to kick Hairy in the face, but when he did, nothing happened, "Wha?"

"My turn!" Hairy grabbed his foot and smashed Boomer against the window, then he threw him in the air and smashed him with his staff, throwing Boomer all the way to the other side of the car.

"You're all show, but no guts…" mocked Hairy.

"What?" Boomer staggered up after the beating he got, then Hairy said again, "I said you're all show, but you barely have any meat in those bones of yers, you couldn't beat me even with what you've got!"

"Shut up, I'll show you, I can handle this!" Then Boomer went and did a drill kick at Hairy, at which the latter blocked with his arm, and slammed Boomer to the ground, "Getting' soft, aren't cha'? Well, you can't beat me with those flashy little techniques of yers!" Boomer got up after he was hit again, "I can handle this!" Boomer began jumping all over and started delivering kicks to Hairy in the face, but Hairy didn't respond much but simply move in conjunction with Boomer's attacks, "I already told ya! You ain't got nuthin'!" Hairy grabbed Boomer, then he began to dish out the real punishment.

He did a backhand swipe at Boomer's face, slammed Boomer across his knee, bang his head to the ceiling, thrust hard on his abdomen with his staff, and slamming it at his skull, then he grappled with Boomer, and in the Ruff's current condition, couldn't hold up, Hairy went behind him, then, holding onto his arm, pushed hard and nearly snapped it. Hairy finally let up and let a bruised and partially bleeding Boomer hard on the floor.

"Told ya', ya got no substance." responded Hairy.

'This is hopeless, I can't beat him, he's too tough… ugh…' Boomer coughed out some blood from his beatings, and then he stood up yet again, determined to finish his battle.

"Up again, don't cha know? Fight's over…" said Hairy rather bluntly.

'If Butch was here, he'd be able to take on this guy…' then, Boomer suddenly had an idea, 'Hey, I know! I'll fight him how Butch fights his matches, now how did he do it again?' Boomer called the image of Butch to his mind, wondering how Butch fights his battles, it didn't require much, but it placed a lot of emphasis on body strength, and not much else.

'Wait a minute,' then he recalled what Hairy said about being all show and no strength, Butch never needed to be skilled in his battles, he simply used his body and strength as one, does this mean Boomer has to fall back on his strength, too?

"No, dude, the fight ain't over, 'till it's over!" and Boomer, with a renewed vigor, rushed at Hairy, then grappled with him in a fierce deadlock, both of them wrestling for his staff.

"Why you little runt!" Hairy tried to get Boomer off of him, but the Blue Ruff was much more resilient now, and every time Hairy threw him down, Boomer simply got back up and just wrestled with him, shouting out into the air and holding on as best as he could.

"Huh, I thought you'd be smarter than doing something this unsightly" said Hairy, as he continued wrestling with Boomer.

"Don't look down on me you big lummox! I'm gonna smash you a blowhole!" shouted Boomer.

"Doubt that, cupcake!" Hairy taunted.

Boomer then brought himself and Hairy to the floor as they rolled around in a mad grappling frenzy, still trying to gain control of the staff, which appeared to be the point of this entire fight. "You ain't gonna win!" said Hairy in a tensed, tight voice.

"I'm gonna win and you're not gonna beat me!" Then Boomer firmly gripped the staff and gave a mighty kick to Hairy's midsection, sending the giant Yeti careening towards the other end of the car, and Boomer was now in possession of the staff.

"Muh staff!" Hairy tried to get his staff back, but Boomer was not about to give up his new prize so easily. With a strong swipe, Boomer knocked Hairy into a short daze, and then with another swipe, he sends Hairy once again flying into the other side, knocking him out and causing one of his teeth to fly off, and knocking hairy out cold.

After a while, Hairy managed to recompose himself, sitting down Indian-style and laughing heartily, "What are you laughing at?" asked Boomer, "Oh, not much, it's just that you've got a lot of body strength, at first, I didn't think a pipsqueak like you had the balls to fight with me, that takes courage…"

Boomer lowered his guard, not sensing anymore hostility from Hairy, "Really, well, thanks, I guess…"

Then Hairy asked him "Hmm… So, now that you've beaten me, I suppose yer gonna ask me a question?"

Boomer responds, "Uh, yeah, dude, do you know where we can find the other members of your group, because some friend of mine says he wants some info on a certain someone."

"Huh, then why're ya askin' me fer?" said Hairy, seemingly confused.

"But… don't you know?" asked Boomer.

"Nope, but, if ya really wanna know, I can let 'cha in on a secret…" said Hairy.

"Tell me," says Boomer.

"Well, if ya go to the Amazon jungles, you'll find this nifty joint with one of our members, Mz. Vixen, she keeps tabs on all the otha' members, maybe she can tell ya sumthin' I don't" replies Hairy.

"Hmm… Amazon jungle, thanks pal…" but before Boomer can leave, Hairy tells him something, "Hold on a minute…"

Then Boomer asks, "What now?"

"Yo kid, pull out them blue feathers on me staff…" Boomer does as he is told and plucks two blue-colored feather from the staff, and is confused about the gesture, "What was that for?"

"Back in the day, my old tribe used to share this habit about making piece by offering a sign of these blue feathers, among other things, their like one of 'em good luck charms, thought you'd be interested…" explained Hairy.

"Gee, thanks, hey wait a minute, where are we?" asked Boomer.

"Near the Oil Fields, you better get outta here while you still can, The place'll be a fiery mess by the time I get there…" said hairy sadly.

"You get there, what do you mean, aren't you gonna try to escape?" asks Boomer, "Nope, my time's up, the world don't need me no more, not as much as they need you…" said Hairy solemnly.

"What are you talking about?" but before Boomer could get a reply, Butch called out to him from above, "Yo, Boomer, could you get out here! I'm gettin' pummeled!" he shouted.

Outside, Sandaaru continued his unending assault on Butch, who is now being severely shot on areas that made him bleed somewhat more profusely, "BOOMER!" Butch was unable to continue dodging Sandaaru any longer.

Sandaaru, meantime, in his craft, was aiming the deadliest of his arsenal at Butch, ready to make the fatal shot, "Say farewell to your mortal life, Rowdyruff…" once the reticle on his screen was now locked on Butch, he was going to fire, "Now… What the-?!" When suddenly, a large shot of dark energy and lightning shot out from the sky and obliterated his craft, killing Sandaaru in the process.

"Huh?" Butch looked up to see his who shot Sandaaru, but was suddenly surprised to find that his savior was none other than Biarce and the Thunder Ruffs.

Back with Boomer, the young Blue Ruff attempts to persuade Hairy to get out and save himself as well, but the Yeti is extremely reluctant on doing so, "I told ya', my time's up, save yerself…" said Hairy glumly.

"But, what about the people you used to care for, don't they matter to you?" asked Boomer, getting anxious by the minute, "I already said I'm not needed in this world anymore, but you have something which I don't, so you have a chance…"

"But, I'm not gonna just let you die, at least, maybe, I can…" Boomer stuttered and walked up to Hairy, and gave him his staff back, Hairy looked at the staff with a blank face, and then looked back at Boomer with some contempt on him, "You little runt…"

Hairy then struck Boomer so hard the Blue Ruff was catapulted out of the Train via the window and Boomer only watched as the fast moving train speeded out of control towards the steep cliff.

Inside, Hairy contemplated what had become of his life, and ultimately decided that death was his only redemption, "Everythins' a dream, within a dream…" he muttered before closing his eyes and awaiting his "time."

The train finally approached the cliff, and at top speed, fell over and crashed upon the warehouse, causing a chain reaction that ultimately destroyed the whole Oil Fields, Hairy Wartfolk was no more…

Boomer, feeling dismayed he couldn't save Hairy, returned back to the rendezvous point.

From there, Boomer was shocked to find the Thunder Ruffs and Biarce along with his brothers and Balder, he was about to fight, when Brick ordered him to stand down.

"Relax Boomer; they're not our enemies anymore."

"What?" Boomer was confused.

After some rough explaining, on the part of Balder and Brick, Boomer is informed that Biarce has come because Balder holds some info regarding details about himself that even Biarce is completely unaware of, Balder, in the meantime, is more than glad to have Biarce and his team come over to their side, as they need all the help they will ever have to get for something great and, quite possibly, Apocalyptic is about to occur…

A/N: Been a while since I uploaded anything. Hope I wasn't missed too badly.


	18. Duel with Destiny

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 18: Duel with Destiny

After utilizing the information given to them by Hairy, Balder and the RRB, along with their new allies the TRB and Biarce, head for the Amazons, where they will find the one member of the Daemon Guild who knows of the locations of the other members.

But it was no cakewalk, not with the muck and bugs of this giant swamp giving a most unpleasant stench.

"Eyuck, this place smells like a sanitation room on overload…" remarked Boomer.

"Deal with it, Boomer, if this helps in what we do; then we might as well be better off," said Brick.

After a while, the foul odor of the swamp began to smell even worse, and the boys, with the exceptions of Biarce and Balder, were finding it harder to breathe, "Yo, boss man, are we there yet?" asked Bart, feeling a little impatient.

"Put a sock in it, Bart, we'll be there in a bit…" said Biarce.

"Got it boss…" Bart turned to a tree, and when he got there, he was shocked to suddenly have half of a corpse hang in front of him.

"Gaahh!!!"

The others inspected Bart's find, and then, they found more hanged bodies lined in the tree branches, and discovered bones and body parts floating in the water, "What is this, some kind of death convention?" asked Brick, not finding this amusing.

"We're close, look sharp, everybody…" said Balder.

The boys stood towards a clearing, lined by a pair of menacing totems, and arrived at a lake filled with mutilated cadavers, the entire bog was rancid.

Across the distance, they saw a gleam of light, no doubt the Temple where Mz. Vixen was staying, "Is that it?" asked Brick.

"I hope so, everyone, stay sharp…" said Balder.

Biarce looked along with the others at the source of the light, then, he saw the others moving towards it, "Biarce, come on man!" called Brick.

"Coming!" but before Biarce could follow after them, he heard a faint sound, which resembled rumbling, growing louder and louder, almost as if approaching him.

In the last minute, Biarce ducked as a giant hammer with spikes almost crushed him, then, out of impulse, he summoned his Serpent and attacked, but it latched on and Biarce was dragged off.

"Biarce!" Blake called out.

"Never mind me, you guys go on ahead!" shouted Biarce as he hit a nearby dead tree and knocked it off its stump…

Biarce found himself dragging with the massive black horse and its mysterious rider, then he latched his second Serpent and tried tugging at him, but a sharp turn made him fall back into the ground, chest-first.

Biarce was about to be hit by an oncoming rock, but pulled away as fast as he could, then the rider made a tree collapse, but Biarce was able to dodge that as well, Biarce jumped upon the back by pulling himself up, then wounded the beast with a blow, but was unable to do any real harm, and he was dragged off yet again…

Biarce and the rider landed on a flat, circular piece of rock in the bog, and Biarce, unable to hold his grip, landed hard on the rock, but quickly scrambled up to face his new opponent, although it would eventually seem, he isn't as new as Biarce thought.

The large black horse turned so that the rider came face to face with Biarce, and revealed himself to be yet another Rowdyruff Boy, but was the most grotesque one Biarce had seen so far.

The right side of his face was decayed, with his jaw slightly exposed, not to mention parts of his flesh was shown as well, he had sickly yellow eyes, jet black hair, and yellow Rowdyruff style clothing, and when he spoke, he did so with a deep, demonic, violent voice…

"Incredible, so it is true! I had spent countless eons in the tormenting depths of the Underworld, faced day-after-day by the minions of Hades, and by chance or by fate, I was plucked out of that damned prison and given a chance for revenge, and lo and behold, my benefactor has shined the light upon me, delivering the very object of my vengeance, Biarce! Ahahahahahahaha!! The Servant of Astaroth!"

"Do you remember that day when you murdered me, Warrior of Death?!" said the mysterious Rowdyruff boy.

Although he had a new face, Biarce recognized his face as if he was but a recent acquaintance, "How could I forget, and how could YOU possibly forget, it was the day you forced my hand!"

For this Rowdyruff was none other than Barbarossa, the Barbarian Warchief who bested Biarce all those thousands of years ago, the very same Barbarossa who forced him into his pact with Astaroth, and still the same Barbarossa who Biarce had claimed as his first kill after his pact with the Demon God.

Adjusting his neck, Barbarossa showed the mark of how he was killed, for his neck was stitched, having just been re-attached to his body, a new body, created from his old, rugged one to make him an equal match for the Black Ruff.

After finishing, Barbarossa spoke, "This time, Biarce, it shall be YOUR head that will be mine, Muahahahaha!!!"

"Try that, and I'll tear your spine out of your back!" shouted Biarce, as he readied for the attack.

Barbarossa charged on his warhorse, intent on crushing Biarce beneath him. But Biarce quickly jumped out of harm's way, but Barbarossa brandished a magical bow and fired shots of spirit energy at Biarce, which Biarce only barely evaded, with two of them wounding his shoulder and leg, but nothing too serious…

Barbarossa charged a second time, this time, intent on bringing Biarce's end, and he was successful, trampling him beneath the hooves, however, even this was not enough, and Biarce simply coughed up blood from his beating, "Why can't you die!?" Barbarossa charged Biarce yet again, but the Black Ruff wasn't about to be beaten by a giant donkey!

With a fast move, Biarce kicked Barbarossa off his steed, then pinned the monstrosity to the ground, where he killed the great beast by morphing his Namtar Serpents into a pair of fang-shaped short swords, suspended by a line of mystic energy.

Now dislodged, Barbarossa was still nonetheless unwilling to yield, and renewed his assault, and while he may have been formidable on horseback, he had been able to best Biarce in melee before, and he can do so again.

Barbarossa smashed the ground in front of him with his warhammer, causing a stream of hell flame to race for Biarce, but the Black Ruff deflected the flame wave, then Barbarossa began swinging his hammer at Biarce, but Biarce brought his new weapons, the Namtar Blades into play, using it to parry Barbarossa's incoming blows, then Biarce wounded Barbarossa's knees, and kicked the Warchief on the chin, sending him flying a good way away.

Barbarossa quickly rose from his staggered form and straightened himself, then, he decided to take things to a more drastic approach, and slammed his warhammer to his left side, then slid it across his front, summoning his warriors from the dead as they came out of a swirling enigma.

"So, you call for back-up now, that's low, Barbarossa, don't you remember how you defeated me back then?" said Biarce, somewhat disappointed by his old nemesis.

"Times have not changed Biarce; for I have sunk as low as you had when you killed me… do you remember?"

Biarce could not deny it, but in that time, Biarce was not yet powerful to have stood a chance with Barbarossa, "Touché" said Biarce.

The troops began attacking Biarce, but he quickly sliced their knees off, and decapitated them in just two strokes, but Barbarossa used the time to attack Biarce from behind, smashing his hammer on Biarce's back, then he slammed it again and began spinning, carrying Biarce with him, then slamming hard after gaining momentum, and kicked Biarce on the sides to send our Black Ruff rolling, wounded, and feeling his wind forced out of his body. Biarce could only slowly stand as Barbarossa stood before him, appearing triumphant, "Well, Biarce, it looks as though I am once again victorious, any last words before I finish you?"

Biarce could only insult him at this point, "Kiss my ass"

"Hmm… I took you to be more creative than that…" then Barbarossa raised his mighty hammer up and once again tried to finish Biarce by crushing him beneath his hammer.

"Goodbye, Biarce!" but as soon as he brought his hammer down, Biarce blocked it with a renewed vigor, then he grabbed the warhammer and wrestled for control of it, after he claimed it, Barbarossa tried to get his weapon back, but Biarce slammed his own hammer down on him, and as Barbarossa tried to get back up, Biarce slammed him again, and again, and again, and again, and finally, when the Warchief could no longer get up, Biarce crushed his opponent's skull beneath the hammer, defeating his old rival yet again…

After the battle, Biarce took the moment to recuperate, but it did not last, one of Barbarossa's troops, having evaded Biarce's attention, and with Biarce, too weak to sense his presence, found himself impaled on the warrior's sword, screaming in agony as Biarce reeled in the pain, but, with all the strength left in him, Biarce took his own blade out and beheaded the warrior, killing him, then the Black ruff pulled out the sword impaled on him, and started bleeding profusely, Biarce found himself dying, yet again, and this time, he was alone. As his life left him, Biarce fell to the ground, apparently dead…

As his corpse lay silent, a host of fiendish, grotesque, disembodied hands emerged beside him, the demonic Arms of the Underworld reached out to claim their prize once again. But there was more resting on Biarce's shoulders than he himself could have known. For Biarce was destined to herald a change so severe, the very universe would shake in a violent tremor.

"This, I simply could not allow!"

As Biarce was handled by the ghoulish Arms into Hell, he once again bore another vision, of that day in the field of battle with Barbarossa thousands of years ago, and as he lay wounded before the Warchief, he saw that moment when he called out to Astaroth, "Astaroth! Strike down my enemies, and my life is forever yours!" yet again, then the scene shifted to when Biarce was bonded to the Serpents of Namtar, then after that, to the moment he killed his sister, and as he looked upon her own pool of blood, Biarce saw Astaroth's image reflected upon it, the next vision was obscured in flame as Astaroth appeared before him, "Fight, Biarce…" said the vision.

The next scene showed Bell, sitting on the swing and biding her time, her back shown to Biarce, then her head turned sharply to face him, "You are not meant to die here…" she said, before being forcefully pulled into darkness…

The next vision showed him lying before Barbarossa in the Amazon swamp at present time, and behind him, was an image of his sister, "This is not the end…" said the image.

And finally, Biarce found himself in a vast, empty space, created completely out of darkness, with the only light shining upon him, Biarce, realizing that the visions were actually all from the same entity, called out, "Who… are you?"

Then, the mysterious figure who presented him the visions, emerged, it was a massive figure, his face was as twice the size of a house, showing how titanic he was, and his face obscured by a large, pitch-black helmet, with two eerie eyes peering from slits in between it, then it spoke to Biarce, "I am the one known as Shagel, ever-present friend of the darkness, I have been watching you become a powerful warrior, and had been with you through all the events of your life, but at this point, I can no longer simply… watch. We shall help you defeat the Daemon Guild…" And as Shagel said this, Biarce watched as several, silhouetted figures emerged behind Shagel, obscured by the darkness, "Death is an escape, Biarce, you are a warrior of a great legend, not a coward of the feeblest of hearts, for as they say, the true test of honor is in living, and as such, only a coward would accept death…"

"I am no coward!" said Biarce, feeling insulted, then Shagel continued, "Then you must fight! I shall grant you your life back, and then you must return to your comrades, for only with their aid can you accomplish your part destiny has given to you. One last thing, please tell the one called Balder that he must hurry, for the End of Time is drawing near, and that the Destined Ones must be ready before it comes to pass…"

Biarce found himself back at the pit where he was held hostage by the Arms of the Underworld, then, in a burning, white-hot sensation, Biarce's wounds had healed, fully recovered, Biarce began fighting his way from the Arm's grip, and, using his Blades, began climbing out of Hell yet again…

A/N: My shortest chapter so far, not much to it, I guess, but it helps with the plot, doesn't it?


	19. Beautiful Cadaver

Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

Episode 19: Beautiful Cadaver

Mz. Vixen climbed the flight of stairs into her personal quarters, tired from another day of overseeing her legions of undead warriors, despite her massive powers as a necromancer, she was still a living being and that makes her job all the more stressful.

Reclining next to her vanity mirror, Vixen began styling her face and hair so that when she meets the first being with a human taste in beauty, she'd look presentable enough.

Vixen mused to herself, "Beauty… there was only one man who saw me as beautiful and he's dead."

Flashback…

Vixen, born Emma Vyx, was a young gypsy living with her family near the bayous of Louisiana. Emma's parents wanted their daughter to be a much more… socially accepted person, and so she found herself living amongst the more ordinary folk in New Orleans's esteemed high schools.

Trouble is, Vixen's family, and indeed her entire group, was generally avoided by a lot of the people, and Emma found herself getting into trouble, a lot, and all unintentionally.

In just a few weeks, a worm was placed in her sandwich, constant pressure from the peers made it awkward during presentations, the girls became increasingly paranoid about her stealing their boyfriends, and quite frankly, neither the boys nor Emma ever even entertained the thought.

Emma could sense that the teachers didn't really seem to care about her welfare at school though; quite strange considering the fact the faculty originally called her a "special child to be treated with utmost respect and welcome," she just chalked it up to the school wanting to avoid favoritism.

One day, however, things weren't so merry for Emma as she was walking home through her usual route by the graveyard.

Cassidy, the school's local "yandere" had heard rumors that her boyfriend showed more attraction towards Emma than her, and she snapped at the mere thought of it. Grabbing a knife, Cassidy ambushed Emma by the grave, how fitting, she thought, that this is where she would get to kill Emma.

"Goddamn it, Cass, I don't even like him!" Emma exclaimed.

"But he likes you, I can feel it. And I don't like it… why should MY guy have the hots for a weirdo like you when he has me!?" Cassidy shouted, unable to contain her pent up rage.

"Then let me go! He already has you, why still kill me!?" Emma was struggling as Cass had strapped her wrists to a pole.

"Oh you know Emma, sometimes we girls are petty and paranoid enough to bring even minor attentions a lot of our effort, now, where should I cut you first?" Cassidy said with a hint of madness taking over her speaking.

However, death would not claim Emma that day for…

End Flashback…

Vixen suddenly heard the loud shriek of one of her lookout zombies, there was an intruder.

Elsewhere…

Narcis was busy admiring himself on the mirror, he had recently found some new, garish clothes and decided to try them out.

"How absolutely delightful, the colors are a bit tacky, but I suppose it'll do."

Although he gives the impression of an extremely vain man obsessed with looks and vanity, the truth is, Narcis has a lot to be thankful for his good looks, because… it's not very often for the world's ugliest man to get a second life the way he wanted it.

Flashback…

Narcis, born Narcisse Schist, was once the ugliest man in Louisiana, so much that his looks were likened to the smell of blue cheese… and how did that happen?

Narcisse was buck-toothed, freckled, and wore a pair of goofy square glasses, not to mention the fact his French was terrible, to say the least.

One day, while traveling with his wife via an arranged marriage on their carriage, they were suddenly ambushed by some highwaymen, to his surprise, they worked for his wife.

"But why?" Narcisse asked.

"Sorry dear, but I don't marry for love or even looks, only for money," then she took a curved knife from one of her associates.

"Anyway, you shouldn't worry so much, honey, at least you'll die knowing your wealth's in good hands," then before Narcisse could speak, she quickly slit his throat, and he died on the spot.

An official inquiry was made, Narcisse was killed by bandits, and in another act of back-stabbing, his wife named the men responsible, while she got away clean.

Years passed, and she was now an old crone, but she was a happy old crone, having gotten away with killing three rich husbands and inheriting everything they had.

One day she was passing by the same marsh area where she killed Narcisse, she chuckled slightly at how easy it was to take his money, she didn't like men, but now she was happy to take everything from them to make her life better.

Suddenly, the carriage abruptly stopped, "Driver? What is it?"

No sooner had she said that when the driver's corpse suddenly slammed through the carriage's window, she gave a shriek as she ran out the other side and quickly ran for the nearest town.

As she looked back, she saw a shadowy figure cannibalizing the horses and the driver, and then it looked towards her with empty eyes, "Get away from me!" she screamed.

Then the creature dashed towards her with inhuman speed, and soon it was upon her, "No! Stop!"

The creature then dug his teeth into her throat and consumed her.

Weeks later, search parties found the carriage, the woman, and Narcisse's corpse.

Narcisse was given a proper burial and was placed in a graveyard for the rich.

He was allowed to rest in peace beneath the earth, but he was still alive and he still didn't feel at peace, his life felt bleak, just then, he felt something a few feet above him, it sounded like a struggle.

"How irritating," he thought, Narcisse clawed his way out of his grave and squinted his eyes as fresh air passed through his being, it felt revolting and refreshing at the same time.

In the distance he saw a pair of girls, one of them was tied up and the other was holding a knife, poised to strike.

Narcisse didn't like his quiet peace in death disturbed by violence, so he crept closer towards them…

End Flashback…

Narcis removed his clothes and dressed back in his working suit, he decided to go pay Mz. Vixen a visit.

A few hours earlier…

The boys and Balder approached the premises of Vixen's massive temple complex. The trees of the swamp gave way to tall, thick palisade walls, and a large mound-shaped structure within the center of the complex with a massive carved skull as the crowning piece.

Around the base of the walls was a small collection of huts and graves filled with Vixen's acolytes performing small rituals and burying some of the less "useful" dead.

"Dude, what are they doin'?" Boomer asked.

"They're busying themselves knee-deep in death, we shouldn't dilly-dally with their business," Balder responded.

The boys silently crept through the huts, and scaled upon a pipe sticking out near the walls, and entered Vixen's massive courtyard littered with bones everywhere.

"Ugh, is there nothing that's like, really alive here?" Bart asked.

Bart then stepped on something soft as he trudged through the courtyard of bones. Suddenly, the soft thing jumped out of the bones with a squeal.

"Did you have to ask?" Blake said exasperatedly.

The strange thing was a zombie, wrapped in a straightjacket, with wispy black hair and empty eyes.

"What's this thing?" Brick pondered.

Suddenly, the creature gave a very, very loud, ear-piercing shriek that spread throughout the whole swamp, and the boys, except Balder, covered their ears from it.

"What was that for?!" Butch shouted.

As if to answer his question, the entire swamp suddenly gave a loud, unearthly roar, and the corpse which earlier surprised Bart had suddenly come alive, ripping itself separate from its bounds, the creature raced towards the temple. Soon, other zombies arose and awakened from the murky fathoms of the swamp, numbering in the thousands.

The zombies rushed through the swamp, easily climbing over the walls and entering the courtyard, soon their massive numbers surrounded the boys on all sides.

"What the Hell?" Brick saw that they were all completely outnumbered by the zombies that suddenly surrounded them. Three zombies suddenly lashed out and tried to strike Balder, but with a simple stroke from his blade, a shockwave flew out and disintegrated the zombies into ash.

Soon the entire horde of zombies quickly descended upon the boys. Bart and Blake opened their palms towards the zombies and fried several of them with arcs of lightning, Butch grabbed one zombie by his ankle and used it as an improvised cudgel which he swung wildly, throwing the zombies nearly everywhere at once. Boomer skillfully maneuvered through the tumbling horde and used his laser eye beams to incinerate several of the moving cadavers at once.

Brick charged through the horde of the creatures but was suddenly cornered, in which the zombies piled all over him and beat him over, but he would have none of that, "Get off of me!" Brick then unleashed a powerful burst of power that caused all the zombies to fly in every which direction.

Balder, although he could keep this up as much as he wanted to, didn't want to waste time dilly-dallying with these zombies.

"Guys! Get over here!" Balder called.

The boys congregated near him, and as they did, the zombies also regrouped and prepared to counter-attack.

"What do we do Balder?" Brick asked.

"I'll handle that," Balder then made a motion with his hands and then the boys suddenly disappeared from the zombies.

"Whoa!" Blake nearly tripped when they reappeared.

"Where are we dudes?" Boomer asked.

"We're in the interior of Mz. Vixen's temple, at least hopefully."

"And indeed you are," suddenly, Mz. Vixen appeared above upon a balcony and the boys realized they were in some kind of pit, the floor they were on was a floating wooden platform above the muck-filled waters of the swamp beneath.

"Vixen! I have a question," Balder exclaimed.

"And what may that be, darlin'?" Vixen responded.

"Where does Prince Goldstar hide in this world?" Balder asked.

"So, y'all wanna know where Goldstar is don'tcha? Well, I could answer ya, but then I need a reason to give it to you" Vixen replied.

"And what do you mean by that?" Balder asked.

Suddenly, above them from an opening in the ceiling, a massive serpent descended upon the platform, it was a flame red snake, with horns protruding from above its eyelids and a series of small, leathery wings extending from its length.

"If you can defeat Petra, then I might grant you my answer," Vixen reclined on her throne as she watched her massive pet look upon the boys.

"How do we take this guy on, Balder?" Blake asked.

"Blake, how's about you take it on yourself?" Balder asked amusingly.

"Wha?" Blake pondered.

"For up until now, you've been fighting under the shadow of your boss, Biarce, why not you and your brother prove to me your not just dead weight," Balder said.

"Hey, you don't need to be so critical about it!" Bart exclaimed.

"…" Blake remained silent, and then, "All right, Bart, let's take this guy on."

Bart was somewhat surprised, "Surely, you aren't serious?"

"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley," Blake snapped.

"You sure they don't need any help for this?" Butch whispered to Brick.

"Balder knows what he's doing… hopefully," Brick responded with a hint of uncertainty.

Petra looked upon the two Thunder Ruffs, and hissed with ravenous anticipation, his forked tongue flickering out from his serpentine lips, eager for a taste of blood.

"You ready Bart?" Blake asked over to his brother.

"As I'll ever be," Bart responded.

Petra then gave a massive, ear-deafening roar that sent some saliva flying from it's mouth.

Bart and Blake both jumped up into the air and fired an arc of lightning at their foe, however, the lightning magnetized towards the two horns above Petra's head. Suddenly, Petra discharged the lightning from his mouth, and the force reacted negatively with the Thunder boys, who were electrocuted by the attack.

"Blake, this thing eats electricity!" Bart said.

"I know that you oaf!" Blake exclaimed towards him.

Brick looked concerned, "Shouldn't we help them Balder?"

Balder simply grinned, "Relax, Biarce chose these boys because he saw potential, and I do not doubt his judgment."

Bart grabbed hold of the creature's maw, grappling with its mouth while Blake jumped and tried to dislodge its horn from its head, which he eventually succeeded.

Petra wreathed in agony as his horn was forcefully removed from his skull, Blake attempted to stab the creature with the horn, but Petra whipped his tail and lashed at Blake, leaving a large gash on his back as Blake stumbled with a grunt.

"Blake!" Bart loosened his grip on Petra's jaw, but this was enough for Petra to ram Bart into a wall, leaving him with little air in his lungs.

"Bart, are you ok?" Blake asked, trying to relieve the pain of the lash wound on his back.

"I'm ok, just slightly out of breath" replied Bart.

"Bart…" Blake then sent a telepathic message to Bart via a crackle of lightning that passed through the air into Bart's head, Bart quickly got the message.

"Got it Blake!" Bart then rose to his feet and dashed towards Petra. The giant snake quickly lashed its tail, but Blake swiftly dodged and then, with a chopping motion of his hands, Petra's tail was magnetized into the platform.

"Ok, bro, get him!" Bart cupped his hands and Blake jumped on them, with Bart hoisting him up and into the air, and then Blake darted towards Petra.

Petra opened his maw and then consumed Blake, but Blake, while inside the beast's throat, released an outburst of energy which began to explode inside Petra.

Finally, Petra's neck exploded in a cloud of blood, bile, and bones, and then Blake, in a bloody mess, jumped out and grabbed Vixen.

"Where is Prince!?" Blake demanded.

Vixen struggled under his grip, but then suddenly, a laser zap suddenly struck Blake, and he was thrown off Vixen.

"Huh?" Bart rushed to aid his brother, and when everyone looked to see who shot him, they saw a man wearing a mask.

"I leave you to your own devices for a few days and look what happens?" Narcis remarked.

"Narcis you old fool…" Vixen chuckled.

"Ahem, Mz. Vixen?" Balder asked inquisitively.

"Hmm? Oh yes, Prince is hiding out in the English Channel with his battleship-fortress, Jack Dreadnought, but that thing is packed to take on most anything." Vixen replied.

"We'll see about that," Balder replied confidently.

"Well, if you please, we need to go now, au revoir," Narcis bid farewell and then quickly left with Vixen in his arms.

The boys left through that front door of the Temple, and when they exited, they found Biarce, finishing off the last zombie in the courtyard.

"Did I miss anything?" Biarce asked.

"Boss!" Bart and Blake ran over to Biarce, asking him what happened.

Meanwhile…

Vixen sat down in Narcis's luxurious, but somewhat garish living room, while Narcis prepared some tea.

"Narcisse…" Vixen looked down on the floor and remembered…

Narcis, on the other hand, was thinking as well while he made the tea, "Emma…"

Flashback…

"W-what the Hell are you!?" Cassidy shrieked as a strange ghoulish creature slowly came towards her.

Cassidy shrieked her last shriek as the creature fell upon her and devoured her flesh before a cry for help could escape the girl's lips.

Once Cassidy was finished, the ghoul slowly returned to his grave, but was stopped by Emma.

"Um… thank you."

Narcisse did not even look at her, he was too hideous…

"…Wait" Emma grabbed hold of Narcis's shoulder, and Narcisse quickly moved away, and then he spoke, "Do not touch me, girl, I… I cannot rest in peace, I never will… now leave me alone…"

"Is it because of how you look?" Emma asked.

Narcisse looked down on the ground, he felt ashamed, "I died because I had betrothed myself to someone who would care less about me because of my appearance."

Emma cupped her hands on the rotting zombie's face, "That's not true"

Emma then brought her forehead to his, and using her powers, Narcisse found his flesh restored, and, as if by a miracle, Narcisse had transformed from an ugly man in life to a more beautiful person as he crouched there, next to this girl.

"Wha?" he felt his face, and he felt… different.

Narcisse then rushed to a nearby pond and looked at himself; he indeed had become a beautiful man.

"This… This is a miracle!" Suddenly, Narcisse quickly transformed back into a ghoul.

"Aah!" Narcisse bent his head solemnly, then turned to Emma, "Please... I do not want to be an ugly man anyore, the whole world reviled me, I do not want to face that again…"

"That makes two of us…" Emma cupped her hands around Narcisse, and then asked, "What's your name? I'm Emma."

"I'm Narcisse," he replied.

"That's a unique name" Emma remarked.

End Flashback…

"I have the tea Vixen!" said Narcis as he came in, his mask removed.

"Oh, thank you," Vixen picked up a cup and began sipping it up, "As always, your tea is absolutely perfect, Narcis," she said.

"Well, I always stress what a fine tea I make" suddenly, Narcis turned into a grotesque corpse, "Oh damn…"

"Eh hehe…" Vixen then moved towards him, then she kissed him on his lips, and he was his old handsome self again.

"Thank you my dear" Narcis said.

"Any time, darlin'" Vixen said with a smile.

**END OF CHAPTER**

Author's note: The battles in this chapter were a bit rushed because I was desperate to get into the story as quickly as possible, so sorry if it's not what you expected, I'm a bit rusty after a while of not writing anything good lately.

Hehe, at long last, I can finally make my return debut! Many thanks to Secret Murderer, best friend on this site I'll ever have.

P.S. Please tell me if there are any typos, especially places where M didn't appear, my M key has been very uncooperative lately.


	20. Revelations

**Jenseits von Gut und Bose**

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

**Episode 20: Revelations**

Balder and the boys have journeyed halfway across the globe, trekking through the frozen north of Alaska, wandering the murky swamps of the Amazons, and finally standing upon the bluffs of France overlooking the English Channel.

This was the last time Brick, Biarce, and their boys were going to run through this little quest blind, Balder had promised them that he would finally explain everything, once his former mentor joined their entourage.

The boys found an old shack on some bluffs overlooking the sea, and used it as their base from which to organize their attack on Prince and his Jack Dreadnought.

Balder was outside looking upon the horizon while the other boys were busy cooking something by a campfire inside, Brick came out to check on him.

"What are you looking at Balder?"

"I can see it from here…" he replied softly.

Brick used his supervision across the distance Balder was pointing, and soon enough, a massive battleship fortress entered his view.

"Is that…?"

"…Prince's battleship: The Jack Dreadnought, decently armed, heavily armored, and perfectly located from a strategic stand-point," Balder noted on the Jack Dreadnought, strategy means nothing without firepower, and Prince is clearly pulling out the stops to ensure he made a point that his tactical wit was flawless.

Balder and Brick sat down on a pair of rocks and started discussing how they would attack the Jack Dreadnought…

Later…

Prince passed by steel walls, walking briskly and with some frustration. He stopped in front of a door, then slid a keycard unto the scanner and the metallic door slid open.

The only things in the room were a pair of large containment tanks, one holding the naked body of Bloodshot in it; Bloodshot was completely motionless, having been kept in stasis this whole time.

Prince activated a terminal near the tank and soon the fluids within the tank were drained out, the tank slowly opened and Bloodshot awoke, wearing nothing but a short towel around his waist.

"Why did you wake me Mister Goldstar?" Bloodshot inquired.

"Get dressed, Bloodshot, there's a party that's gonna begin soon," Prince replied.

"Will there be games and refreshments?" Bloodshot asked with widened eyes.

"Our party will unfortunately be unable to procure those luxuries, but there will be fun." Prince replied with some amusement.

"How wonderful…" Bloodshot started shaking, his body tingling with excitement.

"Be sure to wake _her_ up as well." Prince tossed Bloodshot some clothes and left, getting ready for the "party."

Bloodshot got dressed and then used the terminal to awaken the one in the other tank, "We're having a party today Sekhmet, isn't that nice?"

The creature hiding in the tank, a lioness made of blood, stirred awake and saw a familiar face in Bloodshot.

Sekhmet approached Bloodshot and soon melted unto his body, transforming Bloodshot.

Prince in the meantime, was in the bridge, getting ready for the attack.

"Has anything shown up yet?" he asked the operator.

"Not yet sir," he replied.

Suddenly, the radar flashed wildly as a fast-approaching object flew into their range.

"Turn the screens on!" Prince ordered, then the monitors flashed alive as Biarce came into view, flying headlong into the Jack Dreadnought.

"Headfirst into the fray? Balder usually isn't this reckless… or Biarce, are you simply bait?"

Earlier…

Balder had his plan ready, and had everyone gather to discuss it with him.

"Biarce, as the strongest one among us, you will act as a distraction, drawing Prince's fire away while the rest of us infiltrate the Dreadnought, We will then move in underwater, where Bart and Blake's electric powers will nullify their underwater detectors, at which point we will split up, and you are to rejoin us if you can, I will go after Prince myself, he and I have a score to settle." Balder's plan was all set, now to put it to the test.

"What's the deal between you two?" Brick asked Balder, curious about the rivalry between Prince and him.

"Prince desired for me to become a superior strategist, I've been perfecting my ability for years, this is where years of experience will be put to the test." Balder replied.

"The rivalries of the intelligent elite have always evaded me," Brick said.

Balder chuckled, "Brick, if only you knew someone like Prince, you could probably understand."

Brick still didn't get it, but decided to leave it at that.

Returning to the present, the Dreadnought's defense systems awoke to Biarce's approaching arrival, and Prince decided to take the bait to see what happens.

Meanwhile, while Prince focused his attention on the Black Ruff, Balder, the Rowdyruffs and Thunder Ruffs, infiltrated from beneath the waters. Using their electric powers, they were able to successfully disable Prince's underwater detection systems and sneak past his guard.

As soon as they reached the hull, the Rowdyruffs used their heat vision to cut through the hull, and then afterwards, they entered the ship.

Once inside Balder quick-quizzed the boys on their assignments, "All right gents, you know what to do from here."

"Continue disabling the ship from inside and assist Biarce as soon as we're able." Blake replied.

"Find the ship's central reactor and trash it up!" Butch said excitedly.

"And I will confront Prince… Any questions?" Balder looked around and saw everyone was ready.

"Good, let's go gentlemen!" Balder and the boys quickly split up to cover their respective assignments.

"Get me a sit-rep!" Prince demanded, but everyone in the bridge was killed when the room collapsed, Prince hastily grabbed a nearby extinguisher and vainly tried to contain the fires himself, but ultimately gave up and left the bridge and headed towards the hangar, where his escape vessel was located.

Brick and his boys ran through large and long hallways, until they reached a large door with the label "MAIN REACTOR" imprinted upon it.

Butch rammed the door down and soon the reactor was in view.

"That must be it," Brick noted, he walked towards the reactor to check on it when Boomer stopped him, "Boomer, what is it?"

"Ssshh, there's something here, man…" Boomer said quietly.

Skulking in the shadows, a silent threat loomed over the boys, the sound of a dreadful dripping could be heard through the cold walls of the room, and the sound of a huff permeated through the air.

"What is that guys?" Butch asked.

"Hell if I know." Brick replied.

"It came from that direction." Brick motioned towards a dark corner of the room, and Butch slowly approached the enigmatic darkness, as soon as he was but inches away, he stretched forth his hand towards it.

"Are you crazy man!?" Boomer said exasperatedly at Butch's boldness.

"Chill, The Butch can handle anything thrown at him!" Butch said this a little too soon when a massive force suddenly blasted out of the darkness and propelled Butch towards the other side of the room.

Brick and Boomer looked at Butch and then back at the darkness, slowly, a bloody figure, a humanoid figure made entirely of blood, crawled forth from the darkness, it's body, while human in form, was a slippery frame made of blood, its "hair" were stalks of blood that seemingly defied physics, and it's only discernable features were it's white, empty, soulless eyes. The creature hissed as its underbite shook ravenously, as if ready to pounce without a moment's notice.

And pounce it did, it was soon upon Boomer and bit into his shoulder, Boomer let out a yelp as blood gushed forth from his shoulder.

"Boomer!" Brick rushed and kicked the creature off of his brother, but the bloody monster appeared unfazed.

"Ow, an that hurts!" Brick tore a portion of his sleeve and wrapped it around his brother's shoulder.

"That should hold for a little, you all right?" Boomer's pain managed to subside a little, and responded, "Yeah I'll be good."

The creature hissed again and lunged forth, only for a large chunk of scrap to fly towards it, slamming into the creature as it gave a deathly wail from the impact.

"Nobody messes with The Butch! Especially not some bloody slimeball like you!"

The blood-soaked beast was put aback, but regained composure, then lunged unto Butch, grabbing hold of the Green Ruff while clawing away at his body.

Butch could feel the creatures claws digging into his skin, he quickly grabbed it by its "hair" and slammed it into the ground, then fired a blast of heat from his eyes and sent it rolling in the opposite direction.

Brick then moved in and gave a swift kick at the creature, slamming it into the reactor, causing a large dent into it.

The beast groggily got up and wailed an unearthly wail as he jumped the two who assailed him and reached for Boomer.

Boomer tried throwing a punch, but the creature stabbed his left leg, Boomer quickly clutched his leg in pain, and the creature gave a powerful kick, knocking Boomer to the ground.

Brick and Butch quickly held the monster in place, but he easily body-slammed both of them on Boomer, causing some bones to crack.

The boys rose slowly as the creature pulled back a little, hissing softly in anticipation of their next move.

"This ain't gonna be easy dudes!" Boomer exclaimed.

"We can do this bros! Haa!" Butch charged forward…

Meanwhile…

Prince rushed towards his escape vessel, only to discover that it had been sabotaged.

"Perfect!" Prince stated exasperatedly.

"I have you where I need you now, Prince, there is no escape," Balder suddenly appeared, approaching his nemesis.

"Well-played Balder, your 'mentor' pales in comparison to you." Prince said with some disdain.

"Mind your manners, Prince, he was a great man, after all, he made me what I am now."

"Oh I see, and speaking of which, that's what you've come here for isn't it? I've kept tabs on you and you couldn't possibly just systematically attack all the other Daemon Guildsmen without a reason?" Prince asked.

"Yes, now, I demand to see Bragel… on the instant." Balder demanded firmly.

"If you truly want to see him again, then you must earn it. You've clearly surpassed me as a strategist, but can you do the same as a warrior?" Prince activated his armor's weapon systems, and hovered above the ground, waiting for Balder to respond.

"…If that's what it takes, I accept your challenge, Prince Goldstar!"

Goldstar quickly activated some mini-rockets from his suit to fly towards Balder, who as soon as the missiles were within point-blank range, instantly jumped between them and rushed to meet Goldstar.

Balder slammed his shoulder into Goldstar's chest, sending the latter a few feet away.

Balder then brought his Ziz Blade down on Prince, who grabbed the blade and then struck Balder with his fist.

"It's been a while since we've sparred in battle hasn't it?" Prince asked.

"Indeed, I hope you didn't lose your touch." Balder replied.

Biarce, in the meantime, was on the deck, having ravaged every one of his opponents, and leaving the ship in flames.

"Is this all you have?" As if to answer his question, four men in black suits suddenly walked into view, each one armed with a specific weapon.

"What's this? The Monster Squad? You wanna fight with me?" The four soldiers dispersed around all sides and took positions around Biarce.

"All right, give me all you have!" One soldier, armed with a missile launcher, fired a quick volley of four missiles flying for Biarce, who easily dodged them all.

Another armed with a sniper rifle, aimed and nearly shot Biarce in the head, then another moved in, armed with a Freeze Thrower, who fired a stream of liquid nitrogen at Biarce, Biarce kept his distance, but as he tried moving close for the kill, the other, armed with a powerful plasma beam, quickly retaliated before Biarce could kill his partner with a long, concentrated beam of green plasma.

The Freezer soldier resumed its attack, and if Biarce was too far, the Missile and Sniper soldiers were more than easily capable of keeping him busy.

"Hm… this is the most fun I've had since The Siege of Malta!" Biarce exclaimed with excitement.

The Rowdyruffs were beginning to feel the pressure of the battle, as the Beast was continuously wounding them.

Brick's shoulder was drenched in his blood, Butch was beginning to lose balance on his legs, and Boomer gained a scar across his back and chest.

"This is impossible! What is that thing?!" Boomer exclaimed.

"Hell if I know, but we're not gonna make it if this keeps up!" Brick replied, panting his breath.

The creature then started to laugh coarsely, "Your blood… will be my nourishment!"

Boomer closed his eyes, and for a moment, all he could think of was Bubbles, his cute, bubbly, and wonderful Bubbles. They had only been together for a few months, but he knew it was enough to know they'd have a bright future somehow, as Boomer thought of this, Bubbles, in the meantime, was sitting down in a park, quietly throwing some cookies to her birds, suddenly, Boomer appeared in her thoughts, Bubbles suddenly wondered why he of all people suddenly crossed her mind.

Bubbles ten spoke as if he were right next to her, "Boomer, I dunno why I feel you right now, but for some reason, you look like you need help, remember Boomie, everyone's stronger than they look, more so than they realize." And she concluded this statement with a smile.

Suddenly, Boomer felt a pulse of strength gradually filling within him, for that moment, he felt as though he had the power to smash ten mountains, and he rose up to meet the bloody creature.

The creature hissed ravenously as he once again charged for Boomer, but rather than allow the creature to push him down yet again, Boomer grabbed it by the head and let loose a potent blast of heat from his eyes, his gaze did not avert or falter, transfixed upon the creature as its body slowly melted from Boomer's heat vision.

Finally, when the beast was cooked enough, Boomer threw it with earth-shattering force towards the reactor, smashing up the machine as the impact reverberated around it, causing the reactor to collapse upon itself.

Biarce felt the force from where he was fighting, he could sense that everything was beginning to fall into place, and here he was stuck fighting four soldiers with no hope for breaking the stalemate.

"Tsk, what do I do now?" the Sniper soldier aimed and was poised to strike Biarce from where he was.

Unfortunately for him, a jolt of lightning suddenly manifested out of nowhere and stunned the soldier.

"Boss! Are you ok?" Bart asked as he came into view alongside Blake.

"I'll be ok! Now that you're here, it's time to wrap this up!" Biarce quickly dashed and jumped for the Sniper, decapitating him instantly.

The Laser Soldier quickly brought his plasma beam to bear, and fired at Biarce and his boys.

Bart and Blake quickly mustered their power, and fired an opposing beam at the stream of plasma, electricity and plasma wrestled for control, but ultimately, the Thunder Ruffs won out as their beam entered the plasma cannon, short-circuiting it, and sending an explosive shockwave which obliterated the soldier.

The Freezer soldier then attempted to get in range and defeat the, but Biarce quickly locked him in melee.

"You're a taciturn sod aren't you?" Then Biarce punched though the soldier's gut, cutting into his abdomen, but not killing him.

Biarce then grabbed his freezer and aimed at the soldier, turning him into an ice statue, before ruthlessly shattering him into a mess of ice and blood.

Finally, the Missile Soldier was all that was left, and fired one last volley at Biarce in a last, futile attempt.

Biarce simply kicked the missiles away, save for one, which he grabbed and now surfed upon towards the missile soldier, the latter attempted to flee, but the missile overran him and when Biarce was close enough, he separated from his "vessel" and let the explosive loose on its aster, killing him as well.

The battle, it would seem, was beginning to draw to a close, as Balder and Prince would attest.

Balder began running neck and neck along with Prince, clashing at each other at high velocities throughout the length and breadth of the ship, smashing each other with steel-breaking force as they rushed to and fro through the halls, finally, Prince summoned a blade of light and quickly slammed Balder into a wall, causing a hole to be ripped through.

Prince approached the hole in the wall and looked into the smoke-obscured fathos it created.

No sooner had he done so that Balder blasted him with a powerful concussive shockwave hat completely tore apart Prince's chest-piece, and hurled him back-first into a wall.

Balder himself rose from the rubble, with the only wounds he sustained being a scrape on his cheek, a trickle of blood from his mouth, and slightly messed-up hair.

After fixing himself up, Balder approached Prince, who clutched his damaged chest-plate while panting heavily.

"I demand to see Bragel, Prince, now." He said sternly.

"Fine, but you should know by now Balder, the world, as we know it, has no need for old men like Bragel anymore, he's a relic of a time history forgot," Prince replied coldly.

"Not so, it's because we need men like him to grind the dusts of the past and make it the foundation of the future, among other things Prince, you are also still needed, I know who you really are, and after all this time biding with the Guild, I believe now is the time to step into the higher purpose _you_ had asked me to prepare for you." Balder replied with an impartial serenity in his voice.

Prince chuckled, then spoke again, "So I see! All right then…"

Prince then shed his armor and now appeared in casual attire, with raven black hair adorned by golden highlights.

Then Prince faced Balder with an annoyed face, "But what kept you Balder? I would have expected a quicker arrival from someone I took as _**my**_ apprentice."

Balder simply grinned, "You cannot rush genius, Bragel, you taught me that, you know."

Elsewhere…

Boomer approached the remains of the broken reactor, feeling triumphant. However, the creature suddenly jumped from the wreckage, fully recovered, and pounced on Boomer, "Gaah!" Boomer braced for impact, when suddenly, a loud voice resounded through the room.

"Cease!" Bragel stepped into the room and Bloodshot immediately ceased his attack.

"You're no fun," Bloodshot said dejectedly.

Bloodshot then unbound himself from Sekhmet and then moved closer to Bragel, "Relax Bloodshot, you'll have more fun soon."

"Is this the guy, Balder?" Brick asked.

"He most certainly is, now then, let's get Biarce and his boys, and then I can finally tell you everything, and Bragel will as well."

Having acquired Bragel, and a new, unexpected ally in Bragel's friend Bloodshot, the team left the ruins of the Jack Dreadnought.

Once on dry earth, Brick, Biarce, and the other boys congregated together so that they may finally be told the truth of this whole fiasco.

"Now boys, it's time for all of you now to be enlightened, by this part destiny has put out for you." Balder said with enthusiasm.

"Cut the monologues, Balder, and just be quick." Brick snapped.

Balder, looking playfully insulted, said in a faux shocked voice, "Please, no need to be so rude."

Bragel then followed, "First, I'm assuming you have a lot of questions, but most especially, of our enemy, the Daemon Guild."

"Well yeah, basically… like who leads that bunch anyway, and why?" Butch asked.

"Well, that's an interesting question, one that could have been answered by _him_ long ago." Bragel gestured towards Biarce.

"Me? I don't know who their leader is, why would you think I would know?" Biarce said, obviously confused.

"Biarce, the Leader of the Guild has cleverly been disguised and intentionally kept you in the dark, but not anymore, besides, you two know each other very well, too well, actually." Bragel replied snidely.

"…What do you mean?" Biarce's suspicions were growing, but it couldn't possibly…?

Balder interrupted his thoughts, "Biarce… the true leader of the Daemon Guild… is _**Ishtar**_."

END OF CHAPTER

Author's Note: Cliffhanger/Unexpected development, now that's how you do a story, anyway, just wanted to inform you this might be the last chapter in a long while, meaning this story will be put on hiatus, but don't worry, I might just get back to it once I have the energy to do so, I have the idea to continue it, but I lack the imagination to visualize the action, anyway, read and review, and what-not and… yeah.


	21. The Crimson Conflict

**Jenseits von Gut und Bose**

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

**Episode 21: The Crimson Conflict**

Ishtar sat silently upon her heavenly throne, everything appeared to be going precisely as she had foreseen it.

But she took no comfort in this development, it only proved beyond any remaining scrap of doubt that in the end, she would always be a prisoner to Fate…

Nothing changed, everything kept going towards the same destination she was bound for, and there was no stopping it.

The Crimson Conflict…

A series of wars where the gods were the epicenter of everything, battles which would determine the path Destiny would carve for itself, the results of which would require millennia to realize, but the end was devastatingly unambiguous.

The story began upon Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, which exists in a higher plane beyond the boundaries of the beyond itself. At the tips of each root, was a sphere, contained within each sphere, was the infinite expanse of a large universe, teeming with life and worlds to hold each of them.

From the boughs of the great tree, came the Seeds of Life, each Seed, when reaching their blossom, was the sign that heralded the arrival of a new life, which would live in the various universes.

Each seed was denoted by a color, the color which would represent the lives they would birth forth.

The first seed, the White Seed, upon reaching its blossom, birthed Energy: life without thought, living without end, transferring itself across the empty flows of existence.

Next came the Brown Seed, the seed which birthed Matter: life with form, with essence, and with touch.

Afterwards, came the blossoming of the Gold Seed, which birthed the Titans: Life given thought, the first of the beings with mind, also too given no end, although not the first life born, they held the distinction of being the first of Life with Will.

Shortly after that, came the Blue Seed, the seed of the Gods, unlike the Titans, whose wills were bound to the past and primal, the Gods were a force which looked to the future, desiring of change, and of the limitless potential therein.

At last came the Green Seed, the seed of Mortals, beings designated lesser by others, but no less important in the grand scheme of Yggdrasil's life.

For a long time, these beings existed together harmoniously, an interaction felt and witnessed all at once; never again would such a sensation be seen or heard, however, as the passing of time brought such an age to the closure.

It is unknown how it came to be, perhaps, but eventually, Yggdrasil came to sense what it perceived as the end of its life, the conclusion of the harmony.

The Titans, bound to the intricate fabric of existence, could sense this change as well.

Heralding the end, the Tree of Life begat the creation of one final Seed: The Crimson Seed

The Seed of the Destructor

Although Yggdrasil mindlessly allowed this formation and coming of the being who would deliver the conclusion of Life, the Titans, who had come to love all creation, defied this turn of events.

Tiamat, the Empress of the Titans, hastily arrived to a quick answer to their problem; she would devour the Destructor shortly after its birth, ensuring that the end of life would not be brought about by ending the Destructor while it was still at its weakest.

However, there was but one problem, the Destructor would not be born as a new life, but would be hidden amongst the newborn of all other forms of life, and not even the Titans had the means to determine which amongst those born was the Destructor.

Desperate, Tiamat ordained that upon the blossom of the Crimson Seed, all life were to sacrifice their newborn delivered upon that moment to Tiamat, where she would consume them all, one by one.

Only the Gods chose to resist, for just as the Titans cared for life, the Gods cared for their children. Only when the then-leader of the Gods, the Goddess Irkalla, sided with Tiamat did the Gods lost their say in the matter.

On the day the Crimson Seed blossomed, Tiamat's plan was taken into effect.

One by one the offspring of each Life born upon the moment of blossoming was taken to an altar, where Tiamat would consume them all one after the other, to ensure that Life is safeguarded from its own end.

When the time at last came for Anu and Ki, Irkalla's parents, to sacrifice their newborn, a young daughter, they were overcome with hesitation.

Finally, assuming that maybe Tiamat succeeded in eliminating the Destructor, there was no longer any need for them to sacrifice their child anymore, and thus devised a trick to save their young child.

Summoning a large Roc bird, Anu and Ki ordered it to take their infant far from the reach of the Titans. In the baby's place, a rock of similar size and shape, huddled into a bundle to serve as the perfect guise.

When at last, Tiamat reached the parents, they presented the bundle to the great dragon. Not expecting a deception, Tiamat quickly took the bundle, and swallowed it down her gullet. With the deed done, Tiamat breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that her plan had been foiled, the repercussions of which she would feel only years later…

As for the young infant, the baby girl slipped clumsily out of her bundle after the Roc delivered her to the promised destination: A small, reclusive island seemingly located nowhere.

Trotting naked upon the dirt, the young girl ventured into a dark cave, where a hushed whisper called out to her, inviting her to the safety of the darkness. The young girl complied, and Shagel, God of the Darkness, emerged and cradled her gently, putting the young girl, soon to be dubbed Ishtar, to rest.

Years later, Ishtar grew to become a charming lady, but more importantly, it was time for her to achieve her true destiny. Ishtar grew around the story of how she came to be brought with Shagel, her parents whisked her to his side as he was the only one among the gods even the Titans feared, and generally rarely interacted with him. Shagel was normally uninterested in the affairs of all others, so why he chose to raise and safeguard the young Ishtar was a mystery, nevertheless, Anu and Ki were grateful for him either way.

Growing up, Ishtar was taught her goal to avenge the children of the gods who were so violated by Tiamat. Condemning the great dragon as a relic of a dead age, the gods rallied as Ishtar led them to fight against their predecessors, in a war known only as the "Titanomachy," the first of the great wars in the Crimson Conflict.

In spite of their power and their strength, the Titans were defeated by the more numerous and crafty Gods, overpowering them and banishing them to the realm of exile: The realm of Tartarus.

Irkalla, the only one among the gods who sided with Tiamat in the War of the Titans, was without a doubt, also expected to suffer punishment as well, however, given that she was still one of them, and her sister, Ishtar lightened her sentence to rule over a portion of the Underworld as her own, but never again, would she be welcome among the gods.

Tiamat, on the other hand, suffered a much worse statement: Her mighty wings, the symbol of her dignity and her strength, were forcibly ripped from her shoulders, and to ensure that they would never grow again, and also as a testament of the gods' triumph, they burned the stumps of the wings and, rather than being bound for Tartarus, as her fellow Titans had, Tiamat was held in the Desert of Fallen Souls, along with a large mountain housing the greatest power of the gods chained onto her back. The agonizing weight of the mountain, along with the still-painful scars of her punishment ensured that Tiamat would remain tame while the gods established themselves to rule in the place of the Titans.

Ishtar was heralded as a hero among the gods for her achievement, and after the war the gods experienced what may very well be a golden age for themselves, being the most powerful of the forms of Life which now lived.

This however, would not be the end of the Crimson Conflict, as one could plainly imagine, most especially, Shagel, who silently observed this development from afar, as though he was expecting something.

Soon, Ishtar began accumulating visions of destruction as her life ran its course, slowly, as they grew within her mind, she felt herself becoming more and more consumed by insecurity and madness.

Desperate for an answer about these visions, Ishtar consulted the Norns, the three Goddesses who had risen to prominence above the others as the Keepers of Fate, those who could foretell what destiny had in mind for all beings which exist and would come to exist.

Ishtar eventually learned from them of her true nature and destiny: She was the one born with the essence of the Destructor, and it was her destiny all along to end all things, precisely what Tiamat had been fighting to prevent, Ishtar held the power to shatter existence itself, as ordained by Yggdrasil. Soon, despair overcame her mind, as she should rightfully feel about now, Fate is irredeemable, and Ishtar had no say in the matter about this revelation borne upon her now.

Her anxiety was such that she slowly began acting irrationally, and as days dragged on into weeks and more, Ishtar sought solace where she could find it, trying to forget and perhaps avert what was to be expected of her.

Nothing could comfort her, so she turned towards her last option, the one who had been with her all her life as she grew and loved all: Shagel

But when she returned to the place of their first meeting, the island where her life truly began, the darkness she found there was not the comforting shroud which evoked rest and peace, but a dead silence, the darkness only the hollow disturbance of void could allow.

Having lost that which mattered to her more than anything, Ishtar snapped, caving in to the derangement that overcame her, a goddess who went utterly mad…

During this time, one of the angels, a race of lesser gods to serve the higher gods, Lucifer, became more and more anxious of Ishtar's growing irrationality. At last, when it became clear that Ishtar could no longer be kept in check, the second war of the Crimson Conflict began: The Fall of Lucifer

Lucifer led several angels to rebel against Ishtar's madness, this particular struggle of the conflict was known for being relatively short, as Ishtar gave no quarter to the heretical angels who fought for Lucifer, once she struck the all down in the first confrontation, Lucifer was banished, along with those few angels who survived with him, this was not his end, however, and he now lead a prominent life within the reaches of the demonic realm of Hell.

It was perhaps some time after this did the other gods inquire as to the circumstance of the change brought about upon Ishtar.

When the truth became known that the gods, by ousting the Titans and preserving Ishtar, they unwillingly signed the death warrant of themselves and all Life as they knew it.

Soon the gods became split when numerous discussions of this revelation were put forward.

One of the wisest of the gods, Bragel, at that point, had always had his suspicions regarding Ishtar, but now realized the immense danger the gods had placed the whole of existence for their foolish actions.

On the other hand, there were those who resigned themselves to the notion that perhaps this "Death of Creation" was the first step towards a rebirth, that in the event this current state of existence ends, a new, more perfect world awaited them, and that they would be the masters of it.

This rift in the Pantheon of the Gods would serve to spark the final war in that conflict, the conflict of the daughter of the Blood-red seed.

Civil War raged between the gods who fought alongside Bragel, and those who defended Ishtar.

One particular battle saw Svarog, one of Bragel's allies, engage in battle with one of the Ishtar-aligned gods, his enemy drew a wicked chain that plunged into his chest, and slowly, his spirit was nearly rent from his body…

…Were it not for the timely intervention of his friend, Dagda. Summoning the very power of the Earth, Dagda assaulted his enemy with outstanding strength, forcing him to release his grip on Svarog.

The latter kneeled to recover his strength, however, Dagda was suddenly ambushed from behind by another of their enemies, who blasted him with a paralyzing ray of lightning. As Dagda could do nothing to oppose the attack directed against him, their earlier foe instead turned his soul-stealing chains against him, and with Svarog still disabled, Dagda felt himself weaken, and soon he was out of the battle.

Svarog soon found himself cornered after that…

From the distance, Bragel watched as his allies were felled by Ishtar's loyalists, who outnumbered them ten to one.

Balder soon approached him, "It's no use, Bragel, Ishtar's forces are far too powerful for us to deal with now."

"'Twould seem that way Balder, it looks as though we have no choice but to delay the inevitable."

"That ritual?"

"It will not stop her, for sure, but it will allow us ample time to prepare ourselves for a later time."

"Bragel…"

"Rally what few of us are still alive and take them to hiding, I will deal with Ishtar here."

"But, my lord…"

"We will meet again, Balder, by that time, I hope you will have improved."

There was hesitance, but Balder gave in, "All right…"

Balder departed, leaving Bragel alone to deal with the losing battle; taking his ornate scepter, Bragel initiated his spell, summoning ethereal circles and marks upon the ground as he spoke in a tongue which called the eldritch energies of the environs to gather before his presence.

Ishtar and her followers advanced as her enemies withdrew from the field of combat, sensing Bragel's proximity, Ishtar rushed to meet him in battle; However, it was too late for her, Bragel had unleashed his spell, and soon a massive tsunami of light engulfed all within range. Balder had managed to withdraw a safe distance, and watched the conclusion of the battle before his sight, it nearly blinded him.

When the light and dust settled, Ishtar felt herself weakened and out of breath, but among other things, she felt her sanity return, the light which blinded her eyes gave way, and she could think clearly once more.

Ishtar knew what had happened; Bragel unleashed a spell which stripped her powers apart, and now she was only half the goddess she should be, in spite of that, she felt relieved for some reason or another. With the battle at an end, Ishtar returned back to her sanctum, not really certain where to go from then.

Balder approached what was left of Bragel, for when he cast that spell, Bragel faced the consequence of ending himself, and now all that remained was a stone corpse of him, left to rot under the sway of the elements, a grim reminder of Balder's promise to him.

As for Ishtar, she wondered what she would do now, though it became ominously clear that there would be no way to stop her destiny, she knows just how intricately cruel fate is…

The question was: What did Biarce have to do with all this? Ishtar clearly knew what Biarce is and hoped he would be, but even she, Queen of the Gods, did not know how even more important he was in this whole drama, that had yet to fully play out.

Author's Note: More a filler episode than anything else really, I didn't know what to write next, so I decided that maybe I should shed some light on what's going on in case any of you were wondering, most especially about what the Crimson Conflict was all about.


	22. His Radiant Goddess

**Jenseits von Gut und Bose**

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

**Episode 22: His Radiant Goddess**

_Mature Stuff ahead, you have been warned…_

"The price… is simply a crime."

Brick remarked of a luxurious looking penthouse he and his boys were perusing. The previous tenant, a rather well-known businessman, had gone to a safari in Indonesia, and wouldn't be back for at least two weeks, giving the boys comfortable living space, and some time to kick back.

"Got the mix, Boomer?"

"Here ya go boss."

Opening up the penthouse atrium, Brick flooded the room with a dense spray from a can of "the mix" and soon various laser security measures appeared very clearly to their eyes. Moving inside, the three boys carefully moved towards the room's junction box, they would have earlier been detected by the motion-sensors along with the lasers, but "the mix" safely masked their presence in the room.

After shutting off the security, the boys moved in and reclined in their new environs, happy to take a break from the incessant globe-trotting they've been doing recently.

As Brick leaned back on a nearby seat, he looked around the room, and noted someone among them was not there.

"Where's Biarce?"

Balder responded, "He decided to be left alone for a while, he's been through much lately, and he needs time on his own."

Out on the streets of Paris, Biarce walked down the stone lanes, and watched males and females walk around him everywhere, being happy, some were siblings, thinking of what fun things they could do together, others were parent and child, spending leisurely times with each other, as were friends and lovers all.

Seeing all this, Biarce couldn't help but feel lonely, he ought to be, for at that moment, Biarce assumed the realization that he had been plucked from where he most wanted to be: Resting upon _her_ soft, pillow-like bosom.

Sitting down on a bench, Biarce bent his head in depression, feeling rather cold.

"You look lonely…"

Biarce jolted from his depression at the familiar voice, he looked up, and saw her: His radiant goddess

She sat beside him, maintaining a warm smile as she always had, a smile that Biarce had convinced himself he alone was worthy of. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her belly, seemingly to keep warm.

"It's cold out here, you know, you could get sick."

"I've endured colder winters and waters than this, and I've never had to suffer an ailment for it."

"Unflinching as a mountain, as always, but nothing your body feels compares to what your heart feels, no?"

"Why are you even here, Ishtar? Balder and the others might be looking upon us as we speak."

"At their current state, I could reduce them to mere atoms, for now, they are keeping their distance, which, by the way, I couldn't be more grateful for."

"…"

"Don't be so glum Biarce, taking sides means nothing." Ishtar let off a small chuckle, "You remind me of the days when you'd wander the halls of my abode so aimlessly, do you remember it?"

Flashback…

Biarce made his third round around the gold-laced marble halls of Ishtar's grand palace, two angels nearby observed him thus far, and couldn't help but chat about his behavior.

"That Biarce truly is an odd mortal."

"I find no reason for him to waste his hours to gallivant the halls in such a manner."

Biarce paid no heed to their offhand remarks of his oddities, and went away, most likely for another round.

However, he had accidentally encountered a soft cushion bearing to his profile, the soft touch of Ishtar's being, Biarce stood frozen for a moment, uncertain of whether to feel ashamed or otherwise.

"Do you enjoy my presence to linger so?"

Biarce pulled away, putting some distance between himself and Ishtar.

"I meant no disrespect, let me take my leave."

"Do not be so hasty, Biarce, you should understand the importance of bonding."

"Bonding?"

"Come, come, I'm in the mood for a little company to the bathhouse."

Taking Biarce's hand, Ishtar dragged him to her bathhouse without hesitance.

"Well, enter the pool, Biarce, I'm certain you'll find it refreshing."

Biarce remained cautiously still, his mind entertaining thoughts of suspicion. Ishtar, on the other hand, wasted no time dispensing of her apparel, sitting down bare on the edge of the pool, letting her feet down into the cool, clean waters.

"Ahh… how refreshing, isn't it?"

Biarce relinquished his clothing, and slowly entered the pool, maintaining his distance from Ishtar.

Biarce did not notice Ishtar crawling slowly towards him sitting just above him on the pool, caressing his shoulder with her feet.

"You seem a little stiff, Biarce, does this bore you?"

"No… not at all, Ishtar," although Biarce was generally more pre-occupied by his sorrow, as a man, even he could not ignore the guilty pleasure of being doted over by someone of the opposite sex.

End Flashback…

"Ah… as Sovereign of the gods, it's hard to find intimate company as good as you, Biarce."

Biarce returned with a cup of hot chocolate from the nearby dispenser, and gave it to Ishtar.

"You could freeze to death out here."

Ishtar took the cup graciously, "Thank you Biarce."

The two began walking down the street, admiring the other couples walking past and the like, it was a welcome moment for the both of them, something that they haven't had since Biarce's hectic travels across the world.

"I trust Bragel and his associates have taken care of you well?"

"They are a decent sort, but their company pales in comparison to yours."

"I didn't think Bragel would be like that, not after all he's gone through during his time among the gods."

"Truly?"

"Everyday when he isn't shining upon the mortal worlds as their light of hope, he spends it taking comfort upon the bust and inguen of the other goddesses."

Biarce was partially amused, "I can hardly imagine him doing such things."

"We are gods, Biarce, we do whatever pleases our fancy."

"You gods and your fancies…"

"It's because of our fancies that we have any real reason to keep existing Biarce."

"..."

Ishtar suddenly took Biarce's hand, "Come, this may be the only night we'll ever have for ourselves in a long while, let's make it last."

The two decided to go towards the Bologne Zoo, since it was the closest place to spend some time in, and Ishtar was in the mood to go anywhere as of now.

Once inside, a lot of male heads turned towards Ishtar, not surprising, given that her attire only vaguely managed to conceal her regions right below her waist, but neither she nor Biarce seemed to mind the attention she was getting.

"Men can sometimes be so simple, aren't they?"

"…"

"You feel the same way don't you?"

"It's different."

"Different, in a way, but still the same, nonetheless."

The two bought some peanuts and headed over to the elephant, Ishtar generously fed the large animal, and encouraged Biarce to do the same, which he did, with a bit of reluctance. After that, Ishtar invited Biarce over to ride with her on one of the camels, and with all this, Biarce recalled Bell, the young Powerpuff who was so very much like Ishtar, he knew that there was some kind of link between the two, but he couldn't quite discern it.

After a few more moments of fun, Biarce and Ishtar headed over to a tour boat on the canal passing through the zoo, they were the only ones on the boat, so it ended up being a rather quiet trip, but they felt it was good to have a peaceful moment like this.

At this point, Biarce had some questions that needed answering, and he wanted them now.

"Ishtar, can I…"

"You want to know what this is all about, isn't it?"

She had taken the words right out of his mouth, "You already know that after tonight, we will be enemies."

"Are we really enemies, Biarce?"

"I… don't know, I have sided with Balder and the others simply because I needed answers, but now… I find myself with even more mysteries."

"Do not despair, even I do not even completely know. All that is clear, is that one day, everything will simply… cease to be."

"And you would simply let it come to pass?"

"How could there be any other way? I know that one way or another, I will never be free of this Fate shackled upon me, we gods seem petty and self-centered Biarce, but only because it keeps the chains that bind all of us loosened, that we may feel even a sliver of freedom from it."

"You don't have to be bound up in restraints, Ishtar, you should know this as Sovereign of the Gods."

"Wistful thinking like that is something I wish I had in me, Biarce, but… I think I've naught the strength of mind you have."

Strength of mind? Biarce felt that he had never had any of that, but when he sees it like that, he has more in common with Ishtar than he realized.

"Biarce…"

"Yes, Ishtar?"

"No matter what happens, somehow, I know you will make the right decision when the time comes."

Later…

Biarce decided to return back to his comrades, and Ishtar decided to tag along just a little longer, to be with him before she left.

"You do realize that we are very close to them now."

"You know I can handle myself Biarce."

"It's not you I'm worried about, but them."

As they drew closer to their abode, Biarce stopped as, just ahead of them, were Balder and Bragel, apparently expecting their return. Biarce moved forward to explain to them, but Ishtar held him back, and approached them herself.

When she at last faced them, in particular Bragel, there was no open hostility felt between them.

"It's a shame it had to end like this, Shamash."

"I don't go by that name anymore, Ishtar, we are far too different now…"

"We're not that different, Shamash, how if we can even exist and stand together like this. I just want one thing clear: Please, take care of him for me, or else I will never forgive you."

Bragel looked towards Biarce, who looked upon them curiously, he then turned towards Ishtar.

"I promise Ishtar, it's the least I could do for you."

Ishtar smiled, "You're such a dependable brother, Shamash."

Ishtar then turned and walked towards Biarce, cupping her hands on his cheeks, and bent down until they were face-to-face, "I will see you soon, Biarce, do take care of yourself, you are in good hands." Ishtar then gave Biarce a short kiss upon his lips, before she stepped away and disappeared fro all of them in a flash of light.

Biarce just stood there, filled with uncertainty more than ever, and he felt a twinge of fear within his heart, and at that moment, he wondered just why it had to come to this, "Ishtar…"

**End of Episode**

Author's Note: Okay… the next couple of chapters are gonna be "filler" chapters for a little while, truth be told, I don't know just how I could advance the plot right now, so I might as well flesh out the story even further, and use this time to unveil some of the other major players who have yet to make an appearance. I hope you will not be disappointed about this.


	23. Brothers

**Jenseits von Gut und Bose**

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

**Episode 23: Brothers**

When people speak of Biarce's origins, people speak of his days when he lived in a brutal training regimen in a city of warriors, whose methods of molding their youth into the next fine generation of battle-hardened veterans would almost be criminal in today's modern world. But what most people tend to omit in the story of his birth is that he and his sister were not the only ones borne of their mother's womb, there was another, a third child, who would've received at least a passing notice in the chronicles of Biarce's stories, but by the circumstance of a tragic demise, he would not live to see the rise of his more famous brother. This is the story of this little lost soul, and his return into the grand scheme of a greater plot.

This is the story of Becrai…

Oww… what the hell happened? All I remember was being in a dark and cold place with lots of snow falling all around me, after that, I just fell asleep and woke up and now, I'm sweating buckets. Where the hell am I? I scrambled up from my prone position and I looked around, trying to get my bearings. When the thick smell of sulphur and the rugged feel of pebbles beneath registered to me, I suddenly realized I wasn't on Earth anymore, that was for certain, especially when I saw the sky obscured with a hazy smoke tinged with a fiery red. What was I doing here? I stood up on my legs and wiped the sweat off my body, I clambered up a small hill to get a better look, and once I got there, I now had a fairly good idea where I was.

Before I had the opportunity to observe further, I suddenly felt a screech of fire graze my right arm, I staggered with a sub-vocalized curse and I turned to see the direction of the attack. Two demons on discs hovering slightly over the ground rushed towards me with bows and arrows that flew with a fiery zip, faces baying for blood. With no means of defending myself, I turned and ran, dashing across the dusty hill to get away from them as quickly as I could, I kept running on the parched terrain as fast as my bare feet would permit, the thought of being sent to oblivion if I fell to their depredations keeping me from their infernal presence.

There was little I could do then, being a simple mortal, when I was knocked in the head and pushed into the gravel, I hit the dirt, some of the filthy soil pushing into my mouth and leaving a bad taste in it. I awaited whatever blow they were about to deal with, praying that their strike would be swift and painless. But they did nothing, instead they positioned themselves to the sides, keeping their arrows pointed but not firing off a shot. I turned and sat on my rump, looking cautiously towards my two assailants before another appeared, also on approach from atop a hovering disc, she was different from all the rest, whereas the other demons were grotesque beings with malformed heads (I wasn't certain whether that was their natural physique or not) she at least looked human, albeit with deep red skin and three clawed digits on her hand. She skipped off of her floating steed and approached me, an aura of hubris accompanying her step. With a motion of her hands I was plucked from the ground and floated 'til I was level with her face, which was written with the stern look of a good warfare teacher… for a lady.

"What are you doing here, boy?" She addressed me.

"I… I've no idea, I was left all by myself in the cold snow of the wilderness, after that I fell asleep and found myself here."

She didn't say another word after that, instead, she threw me into the ground and motioned for her cronies to pick me up, roughly if I may say so, off the ground from my arms, I struggled for a brief time before she addressed me yet again, "Stop squirming, mortal, I'm not going to do you harm."

I turned back towards my captor, "Where are you bringing me?"

Without turning around to face me eye-to-eye she spoke, "I'm taking you to a place to beef up, if you've ever seen yourself, child, you're as bony as a malnourished imp. I'm going to place muscles where lanky flesh used to be, boy."

After a fairly long while of being dragged to who-knows-where by the speedy disc riders, I was finally brought to where I was supposed to "beef up" – a huge manually-driven grinding wheel in the middle of nowhere.

With little ceremony I was chained to one of the handles of the device with other lost souls – mortals who were captured by demons during their journey to the afterlife – and forced to slave away with whatever menial labor their demon masters tasked for them, and I was going to join their ranks, lucky me.

Before I was set upon my new task, I called out to the mysterious red demon woman, "Hey, who are you?"

She turned to me again with her smug look, "I am Astarte, and I will return one day to collect you, that is, if you haven't expired by then."

She rode off on her disc, ignoring me and my workmates. I pondered her name, Astarte, sister to the Demon God Astaroth, the deity of my family, before a sharp crack of a whip and the bellow of our slavemaster told us to start working, and here I would stay for a good half of my life…

So it went on like this for several years, I pushed night and day to the acrid smell of sulphur fuming from the poisoned earth, and after a couple of years since the start of my work out a good few of my fellow wheel-pushers dropped from exhaustion. A decade passed after that, and a couple more of my brethren dropped too, steeling the resolve of myself and the others. I have no idea of the passage of time, but when I inquired, I received information that it's been thirty or so years and a sharp crack of my slaver's whip to the back for my loose tongue. Funny, it's been thirty years since I've started this and it only really feels like a year or two at best, mind you, pushing a giant grinding wheel your whole life can do that to you.

Perhaps I should've expected Astarte would return to hold her end of the bargain, I was almost starting to think she'd have forgotten all about me, but I must be a special case if she actually had the courtesy to show up again after all this time.

She grabbed me by my shoulders and examined how much I had changed since then, "Well, boy, you've become something I could make use of, I had almost believed you had died, but perhaps I should not have expected any less from the brother of Biarce."

That made my ears perk up, it had been so long since I heard that name, he must have made quite a name for himself if his name has become so well-known, even all the way here in the demon realms, "You know of my brother?"

"All the people of the Demon Realms here know of him, especially of his betrayal."

"Betrayal?"

"You will see soon enough. For now, it's time I break you off your bounds, and to begin the next half of your training."

A huge shape, like a kind of ship but with rows of wheels on the side wrapped by plates of metal, rolled over towards us, "Get on the Carrier, boy." One of her brutes grabbed me by the arm, but I pulled out with a tug, shooting a glare at the guy who had just touched me, "I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"Bold move, boy, what is your name?"

"Becrai" I replied, striding towards the object called the Carrier and entering from a ramp that opened from the rear, and I sat down alongside a group of sweaty guys, all of whom looked as sullen as I was at the situation, I didn't need to ask what was apparently going on, as a landship full of half-naked men no doubt worked to the bone their whole lives for some purpose to be trained the way they did.

So we found ourselves tumbling through the hellish landscape, being thrown off our seats as these unusual contraptions led us to who-knows-where. By the time we stopped, some of us felt partially dizzy from the bumpy ride, in either case, the rear ramp opened and two armed demons gestured us to leave the carrier. We were inside a building, I could hear the faint sound of crowds cheering from somewhere, this only confirmed to me what Lady Astarte had in store for us. We were eventually brought through a door that opened into another hallway, lined with doors, the guards picked us one at a time and we entered inside of them. When I entered my room (as I was sure to discover) I found a bed, or more precisely, a pile of hay made into a crude resting spot, but that wasn't the highlight of this place, it was the racks of weapons neatly organized to the side of the side. Most of them I was familiar with thanks to my weapons training, but others looked like things I had never seen before, exotic arms I never would've dreamed of.

"Get whatever you like, but do so with haste." Said the guard briskly.

By way of reply I simply complied to his demand, picking out an axe, a very simple axe, and nothing else. I would have taken anything bigger or sharper, but I preferred just an axe, that was the end of that. After a few minutes, I was brought outside into another hall, where everyone else was arrayed, looking ready for a big fight, as I suspected…

…We've been brought here as gladiators.

All of us were brought out into a massive colosseum, as we emerged, the sound of a thousand voices cheering and whistling filled the air. On an ornate balcony at the far end of the colosseum, we saw Astarte sitting down upon a brass throne, a tiny demon stood up on a pedestal, announcing with a volume that betrayed his meager form.

"This tournament will see the rise of new champions of our glorious Mistress, Sister of our great Sovereign, Astaroth, so that we may find worthy the one who shall visit vengeance upon he who had taken our great leader from this existence!"

This was even more unusual news, although his words were peppered in painfully pretty prose, it sent a shock through my system to realize that Astaroth, Demon God of these Realms, had been defeated and killed… but by whom? Only then did the memories stir once more. Years ago, Astarte told me of how famous my brother had become, but foremost of his betrayal. Was it possible? Had Biarce achieved what no ordinary mortal could not? Now my curiosity overwhelmed all other questions I could think of at that moment, but from the looks of things, I needed to fight my way to get it.

A huge iron grate just beneath her balcony opened up, and a large creature emerged. It had albino white skin and stood on four legs, it had a beaked mouth and a head that seamlessly extended into a bony neck frill. A pair of sturdy tusks completed the picture. Without warning or provocation the creature charged towards our small group. My erstwhile brethren found their lives cut short by this implacable monster as it charged, stomped and gored through us.

One of my fellow gladiators, a lithe character with a tall shield and a foot-long dagger rushed towards the beast from the side, he jumped and grabbed hold of the creature's leg and started puncturing its vulnerable underbelly.

The creature bucked from the gladiator's attack, and my ally was nearly thrown aside, eventually being thrown near the creature's feet and stomped to death.

It was at that moment the beast noticed me at last, wasting no time, the creature rushed in on heavy hooves and tried to gore me on his massive tusks, I dodged to the right just as the tusk grazed across my bare chest, and then I ducked and rolled to avoid the swipe of its thick tail.

The creature ended up being rammed against the wall because of its uncontrollable speed, gouging its tusks into the wall of the arena and getting stuck therein. I realized this was now my only chance, so I rushed towards the creature, my legs carrying me with the strength of thirty or so years of exercise, closing the distance and jumping on the back of the large beast, trailing along the length of its back and jumping atop its frill, finally, I dug the head of my axe into its eye, culling a loud shriek from the creature.

I jumped back into the dirt when it finally broke free of the wall, breaking off a good chunk of it in the process, angered by the loss of its eye, the creature now turned its attention towards me, vengeance etched across his enraged face. Again, the creature charged forth in a mighty gallop, intent of impaling me upon his sharp tusks. To the surprise of everyone but myself, I stood my ground, waiting patiently for the beast to come within a hair's breadth of me, focusing myself for impact. Once within range, I quickly sidestepped away from his tusks and grabbed hold of it with my arms. With all the strength I could muster, I tugged hard on his natural weapon, and the beast tried to pull away from me. The creature did not realize it was practically helping me with my task, and with another violent pull, I ripped out it tusk from its chin, and earned myself another weapon. The creature pulled back, bleeding profusely from the lower jaw, howling in pain as it did, before howling at me with ever more anger than before, big mistake, as I took his tusk and threw it within the creature's gaping mouth. The beast choked and gasped for air, in a final act of vengeance, it jumped towards me, trying once more to gore me on his other tusk, I dodged to the side quickly before I could meet such a fate, and the beast fell dead, choking on the tusk lodged in his throat before succumbing to death's embrace, climbing up its corpse and ripping my axe out of the monster's socket.

As I stood upon the corpse of the dying beast, I found my ears greeted by the rapturous applause of a thousand voices celebrating my victory. I turned around, my vision blurred, at the formless crowd that had seen my battle.

I focused my vision and returned it towards the balcony where Astarte was comfortably seated upon. I could make out the faint outline of a devious smile form on her lips.

Later…

I found myself taken into a rotund atrium with a pool containing some foul-looking gray liquid boiling in its rank depths, as I peered into the odd concoction, I wondered what in Heaven's name was this unusual thing, before being unceremoniously bumped and dumped inside the strange pool. It was much deeper than I had anticipated, and I found myself wrestling and choking inside before I returned towards the surface, gasping for air, and mildly irritated; I returned to the indifferent look of the time I pushed the grinding wheel when I met the face of Astarte and hoped she would not put me through a torture rack or some such.

"Liked your bath, little Becrai?" I examined my body and discovered it had been completely bleached an ash-black, the only part of my physical form not affected being my white hair, nails, and eyes.

"What did you just do to me?"

Astarte plucked a sword and buckler from nearby and tossed it towards me, reflexively I grabbed them as they neared me, holding and examining the weapons as I held them, "What are these for?"

"Use your mind, Becrai, that is what the 'bath' was for, it's magic properties will now allow you to keep any weapons you have at your disposal stored within a dimensional space attached to your skin."

I found my curiosity raised by this explanation for my sudden dip, and without saying another word, I focused on the sword and buckler on my hands and, after a bit, my hands felt light and they disappeared from my grip, they appeared stored into my skin imprinted as tattoo caricatures, "Whoa, that was pretty unusual."

"Unusual, but useful, as you will need to if you wish to achieve your mission."

"And what mission is that?"

"To kill the traitor, Biarce."

I knew it, Biarce had killed Astaroth, hard to believe but it was apparently true, I had always figured my brother was destined for greatness… but this was unexpected. I suppose it goes to show that I'd never get in his leagues. I would've inquired more about what had happened had it not been for the sudden appearance of a messenger with the wind sucked out of his lungs, "Milady, I bring dire tidings!"

Astarte raised her arm to calm her, "Calm yourself and tell me of what has happened?"

"It is Nergal, he has moved his forces into the edge of our Circle's borders, our defenses have been spread too thin and we fear they may gain a foothold."

Without saying a word, Astarte turned to me again, "Well, little Becrai, it seems you have yet another opportunity to prove yourself with, repel Nergal's invasion and I may enlighten you further."

Astarte likes being vague it would seem, I would have to work hard if I wanted to get the answers I wanted. Most importantly, I wanted to know what happened to my brother all this time, and what he had been doing these past decades I had ground my life in monotony.


	24. Under Siege

**Jenseits von Gut und Bose**

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies

**Episode 24: Under Siege**

Under a moment's notice, I was carted away from Astarte's residence, and after some monotonous travelling on yet another one of those infernal carriers with other human grunts, we arrived at a sprawling fortress with various dredges making the preparations for a defense. A few tall, burly brutes whipped us to our "quarters" which were about as less appealing as a foot soldier's barracks ignored for a cleaning for ten or so years. My tired muscles and aching limbs persuaded me to take a little rest before the big battle proceeded, I knew I would need it if I was to be in good shape later on.

I'm not sure how long I've been asleep, but judging from the clanging noise of warning bells and the thumping of heavy footsteps, it seems the battle has begun. I yawned and stretched myself from my makeshift bed of hay. It was without warning that the wall of my quarters was suddenly blasted into oblivion; upon pulling myself out of the rubble, I looked across the horizon to see a fleet of devilish ships raining hellfire down on our positions, strange creatures of shifting forms writhed on their hulls. Looking down I saw the ramparts of the fortress below me. A bold thought entered my thinking processes, should I take this opportunity to aid Astarte's sentries in holding back the invaders, or should I simply find a way to escape and search for my own answers? Whichever path I take, I know that to achieve either would first involve surviving this siege.

I jumped from the height of the quarters onto the ramparts below, the pavement denting a large hole thanks to the impact. I surveyed the battlefield all around me; further below, on the shores of the bloody river, the malformed Nergal creatures disembarked from their vessels to engage Astarte's forces. I cursed my own lack of attention when I realized two of the creatures were on the ramparts with me. They rushed on their medley of limbs that appeared to jut from everywhere that happened to be a mouth on their amorphous physical forms. One of the abominations reached out with an outstretched talon, I sidestepped at the right moment to avoid his incoming blow, and responded in kind, bringing my weapons from their storage on my flesh and cutting into one of the creature's openings, slicing apart his body as it sprayed green blood all over us. The second opened one of its maws and released a shot of green flame, I raised my shield just in time to deflect the first shot, before it opened with a second one. As my shield picked up the flame on its surface, I spun around to keep the shot's momentum planted to the shield, and threw the fireball back to its owner, who was incinerated by the blast.

With my presence safe for now I rushed along the ramparts and found a door on the wall, wasting no time I cut it open and entered a hall that muffled the sound of battle outside. I slowed myself to catch my breath, resting against the nearby wall.

I recalled to myself the days I used to train with my brother, those were the times.

Flashback…

Our taskmaster instructed us to find a fox cub and bring it back to the city alive. Of course that was easier said than done; foxes were not just wily animals, but fierce ones too, I expected a grave retribution from the parents if they found us with their cub.

"I'm fairly sure a pair of full-grown foxes won't be trouble." My brother said all this with the confidence of a grown warrior, I was always the skeptic of our family, and this was no different.

"Biarce, we are just children, and a pair of full-grown foxes is still enough teeth and claws to tear our spleens out."

"Then we'll rip their teeth and claws from their mouths before they tear our spleens out." He was so eager to become a warrior, I blame our parents for that. Ever since mother and father founded the Astartian Cult, they've been grooming him to be the one to spread Astaroth's name by the sharp edge of a sword. I missed the days when we would go outside and play with our sister Belili and the other children; I remember when Biarce once had the most popular toy of our city, a wooden toy lion whose jaw would snap with a pull of a little string under the mouth. The other children would always bay for him to share it with them, but his siblings came first before any of the others got a chance; he never thought he fit in anywhere amongst them unlike our sister and myself.

Maybe he thought being a warrior was his thing, his call in life; he could fight for himself and for something, and that would be enough for him. Belili was always worried about Biarce, he would spend so much time reading and learning and training with our parents and he hardly spent time with us, of course, that didn't mean he was a stranger. On the few occasions he got to interact with us he regarded us as close-knit family. But when it came to other people he felt he didn't truly belong.

If only he wasn't so introverted and focused on our parents' expectations, he probably wouldn't have ended up making enemies of one of the bigger kids.

End Flashback…

In my absentminded reminiscing, I did not notice until the last minute a huge fireball burst from the ceiling, the weight of the rubble buried me and caused the floor to give way, leaving me unconscious beneath the pile of stones.

I woke up a short time later, I felt my face stuck to one side, keeping me faced to a tiny opening between the debris. I slowly awoke from my stupor, but my vision was blurry. It wasn't blurry for long, and my sight was not occupied by a featureless wall any longer either, a huge shape, shaped like a giant bird's head or some such, ripped through the wall, examining the inside with its available senses, looking around curiously and flicking its tongue out at random intervals. With all my strength, I exerted an effort on the debris and pulled myself out with a heave, I coughed when dust entered down my throat. The creature sensed my presence and inched towards me, sniffing me. It pulled back with a snort and opened its jaw in an attempt to make me a light snack. I dodged at the last minute and jumped on its head, stabbing it below the eye with my sword and drawing first blood.

The creature squealed in pain and pulled out of the hole it made for itself. I followed shortly after, and saw that the battle on the shore had ended. The monster that fought me before had broken a huge hole into the fortress walls, and I could see the beast in its massive glory: A giant, svelte bipedal lizard with copper-brown skin and bony plates lining its back and head. A random shot from one of the Nergal ships grazed its side, the beast screeched at the fleet, irritated, but walked into the fortress to continue its onslaught.

I should have followed suit, the Nergal fleet noticed my presence and started their bombardment on my position. I ran for dear life as the noise of exploding rounds pounded all around me.

Flashback…

'Course running was one of the things I could do and do well. Biarce would get into a lot of fights with other children, especially the meaner and tougher ones, who wanted his playthings when he was not in his generous mood. The prestige Biarce had because of his parents' expectations made him feared by almost everyone else, so when other kids got miffed, they picked on me, the second-fiddle sibling.

I learned at an early age that if you can avoid a fight and profit from it, such is an exceptionally acceptable course of action. I jumped, crawled, ran, swung and climbed my way out of trouble and earned another day of surviving with my skin relatively intact. It never occurred to me, however, that the law of averages would swing in favor of one or the other at some point. At one point during one of my escapades, I crashed into a canvas awning of one of the street market vendors, and fell into his produce, spraining my leg.

That was the point in my life I found myself cornered like a pig cornered by carnivorous predators. I couldn't run anymore, I was irrefutably trapped, and I knew what that meant. The other kids hit me with punches and slaps, I huddled into a ball to keep the brunt of the pain from hitting me at my vulnerable spots, but they were relentless, they didn't give a quarter about me, and something in me snapped. Reaching out, I attempted to escape the violent horde, clawing and striking, biting and head-butting; I could still escape, but this time I had to fight my way to earn it.

As I continued my frantic escape, I could feel the fatigue wear out both my attackers and myself. All other parts of my vision blurred save for a single spot that led to freedom. I probably did fine for myself when something big and wooden struck the biggest of the bullies, and the attack stopped.

Everyone looked in horror as my brother stood before them, holding the remains of a stool in his hands, the bully who was struck held his head in pain as trickles of blood poured forth, crying profusely at the pain. I looked up, hands and legs keeping me supported from the ground. The other children ran away in different directions in fear. Biarce walked towards the bully, and he huddled tighter when he felt his presence, expecting a further beatdown. But instead, biarce produced his toy lion from somewhere and tossed it at the bully.

"Here, take it."

After that, Biarce walked towards me, pulled one of my arms over his shoulders and helped me back to our residence. Belili was shocked at my disheveled state, and hurried to find some medical supplies to patch me up.

As Biarce helped put me on one of the seats, he left to fetch me a cup of water to drink. When he came back, he just gave me the cup and sat down on the adjacent seat. After a moment of staring down into the cup, I gulped down the cool water, coughing for a bit when I gulped down a bit too much.

"Are you all right, Becrai?" He asked. Of all the things he could ask, he had to ask for the thing that was most obvious, as the wounds and scars of my little engagement should show him already.

Instead I responded with a question of my own, "Why did you give him your toy?"

"Because he was willing to kill you to get it. I couldn't stand to see you running away from them anymore."

Becrai nodded his head, "I didn't need your help, Biarce."

"Don't give me that explanation, Becrai. You're my brother, I have to stick out for you when you need it the most, I don't need a plaything if it means not having you get injured because of me."

Belili returned with some medical supplies and began treating Becrai's wounds, "At the very least, Becrai, your wounds aren't that bad. But you'll have to stay out of trouble for quite a while before you can do anything again."

Becrai nodded, "Thanks, Belili."

"Father said I'm going to be leaving home for a while."

Becrai and Belili's ears perked at Biarce's sudden announcement, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be travelling to a city of warriors where I will be molded into the kind of man our parents want me to be."

A moment of silence permeated the room for a while. Belili walked towards Biarce, "Are you sure you do not wish to reconsider, brother?"

"I'm positive, Belili, I do not wish to let them down."

"Very well, then" Belili turned towards Becrai, "Becrai, can I ask you to promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"I want you to go with Biarce and take care of him."

Her two brothers looked towards her curiously, but she did not shift her gaze from Becrai, "Being away from us will no doubt change him to an extreme, but I want to make sure that when he returns, he will still be the brother we know and love." She walked towards Becrai and held his hands tight, "Promise me, Becrai."

Becrai pondered for a moment before pulling one of his hands free and making the sign for a vow, "I promise."

Belili smiled, "Thank you, brother."

Biarce sighed, "Very well, if you insist on tagging along, I won't object, but I'm worried about what our parents will think."

Becrai shook his head, "Don't worry, Biarce, I'll be sure to keep up with you. You know how good I am at keeping up."

End Flashback…

Of course that ended as well as it probably did, but at least I managed to get far alongside my brother, look where I've ended up now. But back to my present predicament, I finally managed to escape the barrage of the Nergal fleet and into the relative safety of the fortress. All around me, the sounds of battle refused to fade, and it would be some time still before it did, none of that was my priority right now. I kept to the shadows of the narrow alleys and pressed on. The alley ended into a large courtyard with dozens of demon corpses from both sides littering its stone pavement. I was about to cross through the scene of carnage when the giant Salamander returned from a tall building; the beast spotted me again and released a glob of flame in my direction, I jumped out before the incinerating heat caught me.

Going in no particular direction, I rushed through the courtyard as the beast unleashed one volley of caustic flame after another. My mind quickly began formulating a means to deal with the creature, as from what I gather, this beast has developed a grudge against me. My wandering eyes eventually fell upon a ballista mounted atop of a watchtower. The strength of my legs, honed after several years of running and walking, carried me swiftly towards the tower.

Flashback…

I should be thankful to have been born with legs that travel as swift as the winds. They helped me and my brother extensively during our little fox hunt. We were out in the woods and bagged ourselves a little fox cub, and we were now running like mad hell from the enraged parents. At one point or another I was separated from my brother and we were running two different sections of the woods, and when I glanced back, we were being chased by the parents separately now.

Unfortunately for me, I was the one carrying the cub, so even if I eluded the wrath of one of the parents, I would not be able to shake one of them off anytime soon. As I held the bundle keeping the fox cub safe and sound, I kept a steady pace to outrun his parent. I ran and ran until, once again, my luck gave way once more. I stumbled into a ditch I did not see and fell to the dirt. Although I was not hurt badly, I lost precious time as the parent caught up, I scrambled to sit up straight, only to meet the furious gaze of the mother fox.

She was snarling at me menacingly, eager to get her child back and maul the trespasser, regardless of the fact I was still but a child myself. She growled more, perhaps indicating that she would give me some mercy if I returned her child back, but I didn't want to take my chances, so I kept the bundle tight in my arms.

But just as her patience had exceeded itself, I was saved at the last minute when the head of the father fox suddenly appeared from nowhere. All of us turned to see Biarce, drenched in blood and holding a makeshift spear made from a carved twig. He was heaving heavily, his eyes furrowed to the look of a cold-blooded killer, I had never seen my brother like this before, and his heartless gaze sent a feverish chill down my spine.

The mother fox snarled angrily, realizing that my brother was a far more dangerous threat, and lunged at him, fangs bared. Biarce merely poised to strike, nothing would keep him from accomplishing his goals.

End Flashback…

I had finally managed to get inside the tower, and climbed as quickly as I could up to the top where the ballista was. I ducked when the lizard fired another of his caustic shots, but the tower managed to resist the heat, although I had to duck when bits of the heated liquid poured through one of the windows. Once at the top of the tower, I quickly readied a new bolt into the loader, without thinking I pulled back on the winch and let go a shot. The bolt ended up hitting lower than I would have liked, but it still struck home; the projectile had been enchanted to explode on impact, and when it struck the building, it blew up right under the creature, stunning it when it collapsed head-first into the ground.

I breathed a sigh of relief; the creature was no longer a threat to me at the moment. This would give me ample time to recover and escape. I surveyed the area of the fortress, trying to find an exit from this place, and found one in the form of a large black gate roughly to the northwest of the fortress.

I jumped from the top of the tower and landed on the ground, creating yet another huge dent on the ground. I travelled in the general direction of the gate I saw earlier, thankfully not encountering any major engagement I could get sucked into. But as I was exiting the alley I was running through, it opened to a wide street where Nergal and Astarte soldiers were engaging in fierce battle. Perhaps confused by the sheer chaos of the battle, everyone close at hand turned their full attention towards me. I rushed through the thick of battle and hacked my way across the rampant battlefield, I could feel warm blood splatter as I bashed, sliced and stomped my way through the blood-crazed crowd.

I realized that trying to come through from the surface was a pretty bad idea. So I looked around trying to find another means to escape, eventually, I found a hole on the ground leading down into some kind of sewage system. Without any other options readily available, I jumped down the hole. As I crashed in the dirty, murky water, my nose was greeted by something more rancid than human waste, but I didn't have the curiosity to care.

I waded through the sewer and got on some dry ground. I sat down for a sec and took some deep breaths. After that I resumed my trek towards the gate, but the restraining twists and turns of the sewage system made it hard to get where I needed to be.

After a bit of travelling around, I came upon some stairs leading to a wooden door. I lifted them open and took a little peak around. Up ahead, I saw several Astarte soldiers lying on the ground, dying. Above them, was a Nergal sorcerer, holding a handgun (I wouldn't know what its name was until a good millennium later) and pointing at the Astarte soldier.

The dying trooper heaved a loud breath, "More of us are coming! This battle will be ours to win!"

"You lost this battle the moment we arrived, fool!" The sorcerer shot him dead.

I winced as blood poured down the hole formed from his head, but the sorcerer was aware of my presence. "You need'nt linger in hiding there, little mortal."

I opened the door and stepped inside the chamber, "Hey, who do you think you're calling little?"

The sorcerer laughed, "You mortals are all tiny to me. I am Amphion, who are you?"

Becrai brought his hand to his chest, "I am called Becrai."

"Becrai, hmm…" Amphion regarded him for a brief bit, "You were brought here by the Lady Astarte, are you not?"

"How do you know?"

"She clearly left her mark upon you, you are one of the greatest warriors the Astartian demons ever produced. Your skin is coated in the alchemical magic of Devil Arms Bonding."

"Is that what they call it? And I thought it was just some gray muck bath."

"A sense of humor, I guess Lady Astarte has not yet imprinted the hardened attitude of an Astartian champion in you."

"Maybe not, but I hardly need that. Now, are you going to let me pass? I have no quarrel with Nergal."

"I could let you go, but that would be a waste of a perfectly good resource."

"What does that mean?"

"Nergal possesses no Devil Arms warriors of his own, and I'm sure he'd love to add you among his ranks."

"Hmm… I'm afraid not, I have questions that need answering, and I have little time for the squabbling of demons for their constant contests for dominion of Hell."

"Very well…" he plucked out another one of his handguns, holding a pair in both of his hands, "…if you will not join us, you shall die here."

"That's not your decision to make."

At the same time I said this, I rushed for Amphion with all the practice of speed. He let loose a few shots of his handguns, which I blocked deftly with my buckler. I raised my sword and prepared a blow, but he raised one of his firearms and blocked it. I pulled back as soon as I was able, but he quickly aimed another shot for my belly, I blocked that too, but his rapid volley was so strong I was pushed a ways to the wall behind me.

"Give up, mortal, you can't match my range with that shard of iron you call a sword."

Obviously, I couldn't get close to him without being peppered by his guns' shots, I needed a plan, and I needed one quick. I rolled to the side but he did not let up his barrage of shots coming after me. After gaining momentum, I rushed along the walls as he continued firing at me. Finally, after reaching the corner, I kicked off the wall and rushed straight for him, Amphion was temporarily distracted and I charged him straight through the wall, and then 9 more walls before I threw him against the ground on one of the streets. I knelt down and took some deep breaths, Amphion scrambled to his feet as fast as he could.

I tried to pounce on him to finish him off quickly. But he was quick for a sorcerer, and produced a force field that sent me flying to the wall of a second-story building. He resumed his barrage of magic shots towards me, I produced my own magical force field from my buckler, keeping him at bay. Amphion was not amused, and so jumped up on top of me, shooting me from above.

I jumped out of the way and found myself strafing around again to avoid his hits. Seeing my own force field of my own weapons, I realized they must have been magical too, so I decided to put that to the test. I concentrated my mind to my sword, and it began to gleam with a magical property. I struck the blade into the ground and sent a tremor crack slowly from my position towards where Amphion was. He buckled from his position and sank waist deep into the small crevasse I created.

I rushed towards Amphion again, and without letting him take a shot off, I kicked one of his handguns from his fingers and took it for myself. "Aha, thought you could keep this up all day, didn't you?"

Amphion turned around from his waist to try and shoot me, but I shot his other handgun away from his fingers. Trapped, and with no means of escaping quickly, I had him cornered. I moved towards him, holding my new weapon at his head. "All right Amphion, I have you cornered, what are you going to do now?"

Amphion bent his head down, trying to think. With a jerk of his head he suddenly blasted out of thecrevasse in a pillar of flames. "I had not intended to do this, but I have little options left, Hrah!" Amphion unleashed a swarm of flying, bug-like demons from his slowly disintegrating body. "Time for me to leave, I guess…" I hurried to grab Amphion's other handgun from the far side and made my way down the street, trying to keep out of the swarm.

I aimed the guns down, hoping that some of Amphion's magic was still in them, and a geyser of searing flames emerged from the ground as I fired a couple of shots from them, the licking flames putting some of the swarm out of commission.

I continued this relatively fine path of escape until, once more, the giant salamander returned right in front of me. Shrieking in anger, It fired a massive fireball from its mouth, I jumped as far as I could sideways while Amphion's man-eating swarm was reduced to cinders. I jumped into a narrow alley and continued running as fast as I could out of this place.

Flashback…

By the time we came back, we were like the king of huntsmen. Biarce and I were wearing the furs of our prey and parading down the city to the smell of flowers and cracked branches that released a pungent, but nice and earthy, scent.

We walked up the ridiculously long and several stories high staircase to the palace where the city council resided.

One of the old geezers came up to us and commended us for a job well done. No sooner had he done so that we were brought up to a high precipice overlooking the deep dark canyon floors below us. I had a bad feeling about this.

The old codger took the bundle holding the fox cub. He loomed ominously against the setting sun, chanting some alien tongue I didn't know about. He raised the bundle in his arms, holding it aloft over the chasm.

"Biarce… I don't think I like where this is going…"

"Shush, Becrai, we can't let him hear you."

With a great shout, the old geezer let go of the bundle, and the fox cub fell into the ravine, I looked on silently, but deep inside I was shouting to myself at this display of barbarity. If it weren't for Biarce, I would have rushed at the wrinkled snot with my bare hands, but I couldn't.

"Let it go, Becrai. This is how life is like for this city, just let it slide."

That night Biarce was inside the bathhouse, sitting down in the warm waters seeking to cool himself down, "I'm surprised this place can afford a luxury like this." He said, closing his eyes and sliding his head down in the water.

I was just sitting down on the other end, feeling kind of downtrod.

"What's the matter, Becrai?"

"It's about the cub, Biarce."

"What of it?"

"What of it? Biarce, that man just killed a defenseless creature! I mean, this place may have the comforts of civilization, but its people are rotten and savage to the core!"

He kept silent, looking at me with a straight, guiltless look on his face.

"I'm afraid that's the kind of man my parents wish to mold me into." Biarce leaned back against the edge of the pool, "If I am to become everything my parents expect of me, I have to cast aside the doubts and fears of a merciful life. I've never known something that mattered to me in peaceful times, and I'd like to find the sense of purpose I felt I needed. I can't back out now."

Becrai looked away, he was afraid Biarce would say that, but he didn't want Biarce to be a warrior, to live day-by-day with the threat of death looming over his head. I wanted him to enjoy the highlights of the good life – drinking and eating to our hearts' content, owning and trading exotic goods and luxuries, play sports and music, and have a harem of gorgeous women to cater our every needs… Okay maybe the last one was stretching it, but you get the idea.

Speaking of beautiful women, one young lady stepped in, draped in her birthday suit, with shining white hair and pearlescent eyes. And when I said young lady, I meant it, for she was as young as Biarce and myself. Here, in this place, women were raised from birth to be one of three things: Wives to bear children, slaves for manual labor and "comfort," and gladiators, I'll admit, there was something uniquely tantalizing about half-naked amazons killing each other in an arena, but I digress.

This young lady was tasked as Biarce's personal servant. I didn't get any because the council deemed me a mewling weakling, just as well, though I was slightly envious.

"Biarce?"

"Yes, brother?" he didn't shift his head while the servant-girl was giving his tired shoulders a massage.

"Remember when Belili said I should take care of you?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I've decided, I'm going to shape up and fight alongside you, as a fellow warrior, but I think I have a more important thing to protect you from."

"Which is?"

"Biarce, I'm telling you, if you go down this path alone, you will surely cross a point where there will be no return. I wish to stay with you and keep you from straying from the right path. I want to protect you from your own evil."

Biarce looked out into space, I didn't know whether he was actually giving me attention or not, but he confirmed that he did with a response. "Very well, but as I've said before: I expect you to keep up."

I nodded with a smile, looks like I can keep Belili's promise well and good…

End Flashback…

After a few more close calls and being caught in one or two of the skirmishes between Astarte and Nergal, I finally made it to the gate leading out of the fortress and towards freedom.

The gate led to a bridge with a pair of watchtowers beside them that connected the fortress to a barren land beyond, fine by me, a parched desert probably had less dangers than a sprawling citadel filled with enemy troops.

Just as I was making my way across the bridge, another huge ball of flames erupted in front of me, and I was thrown back some feet away. I struggled to get back up and see what did that, the salamander had found me yet again, and this time, I had no feasible means of escape.

I drew my sword and shield again, "I guess I'll never see the end of you, huh, big guy?"

The Salamander roared and drew himself backwards, nestling on top of the gate's archway and firing more of his fireballs in my direction. My shield's magic barriers activated and I ran straight towards the salamander. When I was just under him, he prepared a blast of fire from his mouth, but I worked faster than he did. I jumped up to his hand, which was low enough for me to make a jump with, and pinned it with my sword. With all the might I could gather, I pulled him down to the ground with a thud. After that, I aimed my guns towards the two towers and brought them down on the Salamander's head.

I took a deep breath, that rubble should have dealt with the bastard by now. As I was quick to learn, however, the inhabitants of this realm hardly go down without making them deader than dead. The Salamander emerged from the rubble and gulped me down before I could even respond.

That would have been the end of me, but once partway down his throat, I opened fire with my weapons in every which way I could.

The Salamander could feel the burn as his neck started bulging and glowing, he choked in pain as I assaulted his insides. Finally I flew from his exploding throat and out into the wasteland beyond, tumbling across the dirt before making a stop. I looked back at the fortress beyond the chasm, the beast that haunted me for several hours laid slain. The battle was still raging, as I saw it, but thanks to my help, it seems the fight's been restored to a fair order.

Obviously, I had abandoned Astarte, and now I was a refugee on the run. I needed answers, and now I couldn't get them from Astarte. I guess it's just as well; she might have given me false information regardless. But now who would I turn to for the answers I needed?

A womanly voice emerged from nowhere, "Perhaps I can assist you there, young Becrai."

I turned around, looking in random directions on the barren I stood on, "Who are you? What are you up to?"

"Becrai, I only want service from you in exchange for that which you seek out, is that not a fair trade?"

I nodded my head down, pausing for thought, "Don't know who you are, don't really care. You could just be playing me if I commit myself."

The voice sighed, "At least, hear me out, would it ease you if I revealed to you who I was?"

Becrai contemplated again, "Probably."

An apparition appeared before Becrai, "Any thoughts?"

The apparition appeared as a curvaceous woman with jet-black hair and dark black eyes. Becrai's eyes were wide-open at her appearance, "Uh… Umm… you're not a demon?"

The apparition placed a hand on her exposed hip, "I am Ereshkigal, fallen Goddess of the Pantheon."

Ereshkigal, I have heard of that name, the older sister of Ishtar, Sovereign of the Gods of the Pantheon. Long ago she was exiled to the lower reaches of this realm for siding with the Titans in the Titanomachy before the Gods became the new rulers of the universe.

"Why do you want to help me, anyway?" Not that there was anything wrong with working for someone as foxy as she was, but I was curious.

"I will tell you everything you need to know, but I need you here, where I am right now."

I was inwardly giddy at how hot she was, but I resisted my urges, "Where?"

"Further within the reaches of Hell's circles, in the City of Dis."

"The City of Dis?"

The apparition transformed into a ball of light, which flew into the sky and traced itself towards the horizon, "Follow me towards the direction of this Circle's edge, and I will guide you towards the City."

Realizing I got nothing to lose, and possibly getting a favor from Ereshkigal (if you know what I mean) I set off after the ball of light. I had no idea my quest for answers would turn out much bigger than I suspected.


End file.
